For HP Slash Luv
by Hogwarts Official
Summary: A collection of stories written for our treasured friend, HP Slash Luv.
1. The Longest Winter

**The Longest Winter**

 _Written by **Screaming Faeries**_

 _Sam, you're a great friend to me and an active member of the forum. I'm so sorry for your loss, and you're in my thoughts._

* * *

Narcissa had never really been all that fond of Rodolphus, but she didn't _dislike_ him. He was just the husband of her elder sister, the poor sap who would do absolutely anything for Bellatrix, and an acquaintance of Lucius's Death Eater circle. She didn't quite understand how Rodolphus evaded Azkaban after the war was over — Lucius didn't really tell her much, wanting to brush the negativity surrounding the Malfoy name right under the carpet. She supposed that like Lucius, he had managed to convince the Wizengamot that he had been a victim of the Imperius Curse, and avoided a jail sentence by having his wand snapped.

She didn't think much about him, until he showed up at the Malfoy Manor one day in the winter of 1998.

oOo

He was dishevelled and drunk. Normally the Lestrange brothers had been a proud pair, with sleek black hair and haughty good looks. They carried themselves with an air of authority and wore expensive clothes. The man who stood in front of Narcissa now was nothing like the Rodolphus that she had met at Bellatrix's wedding.

His face was partially covered by his overgrown beard, and his eyes were red—rimmed and empty. He stunk of beer and something stronger — whiskey, Narcissa supposed. His clothes were wet and dirty and he was barefoot. "Cissy," he murmured, his voice gruff and unrecognisable. The use of her old nickname made her wince and think of Bellatrix. "Can I stay with you and Lucius for a while?"

oOo

Lucius expressed his disgust in a series of heated whispers in the middle of the night. Having Bellatrix's husband in their house was as bad as having the Dark Lord there, he reasoned. But Narcissa refused to allow Lucius to throw him out. He was still her brother-in-law after all, regardless of his crimes.

Not to mention, Lucius's past wasn't exactly squeaky-clean. He had no right to judge Rodolphus. So Narcissa drew him a bath, made him a hot chocolate, and provided him with clean clothes. After instructing him to shave, wash and have his fill of dinner, he looked a lot more like the man he used to be.

But he was still a broken man. There was still a hollow, haunted look in his dark eyes. After a lot of probing over the dinner table, he finally broke down in front of Narcissa.

"I can't live without her," he whispered in a cracked voice. "Bellatrix gave me my purpose; she was my reason to live; she was the bane of my existence. I need her to survive. The last few months without her in my life has been torture."

Narcissa was slightly taken aback, though she kept her emotions void of her face. She had always known that Rodolphus was utterly adoring of Bellatrix. But she didn't think that his loyalty to her was relative to servitude. Not knowing what else to say or offer to him, she showed him to the guest bedroom and retired to her own chambers.

oOo

It took a few days of watching Rodolphus quietly for Narcissa to have an idea. She observed how he walked through the icy grounds daily, how he stared out at the dismal, white and grey landscape beyond the garden, how he sobbed himself to sleep each night. Bellatrix was never coming back, but he was never going to accept that while he still clung to her memory. He needed something else. He needed some _one_ else.

oOo

Narcissa found what she was looking for in a Muggle rescue centre in South London. Lucius had snarled when he found out where she had been during the day, and turned his nose up even more at what Narcissa had in the basket — but Narcissa was past caring what her husband thought.

She walked through the snowy garden until she found Rodolphus sitting by an ivory waterfall near the back. He smiled at her in his usual manner; a smile that professed his gratitude for her hospitality, but didn't quite meet his eyes because he wasn't truly happy. He glanced curiously at the covered basket that Narcissa held in her hands. "What do you have there, Cissy?"

"A gift," Narcissa replied gently. "For you." She sat beside Rodolphus on the cold bench and lifted the basket onto her knee. "Just peer in. It's too cold for her out here."

Rodolphus raised an eyebrow. "Her?" Narcissa nodded, and pushed aside a flap of the blanket that covered the basket. Rodolphus leaned forward and peeked inside.

Curled up inside a small mound of blankets was a tiny, yellow-furred Golden Retriever puppy. She had a pink leather collar around her neck and she was snoring softly, releasing tiny, breathy whimpers with each snore.

"You got me a dog?" Rodolphus queried, but his voice had risen a few octaves. When he looked back at Narcissa, his eyes were twinkling and glittering with tears — but they weren't the same sad tears that she'd seen for the last few days. He put an arm around Narcissa's shoulders and pressed a wet kiss to her cheek.

"What do you want to name her?" Narcissa asked, standing up from the bench and leading Rodolphus inside. She wanted him to see the puppy playing in the house, eating and drinking, bounding around and getting to know her new owner.

Rodolphus looked back at the garden before they went back inside the manor. "Bella," he said quietly, smiling. "I'm going to name her Bella."


	2. In The Name of Love

**In The Name of Love**

 _Written by **Coding Gengar**_

 _F_ _or Sam. I hope you enjoy, this, darling. It was written with love._

* * *

Dominique was tired. The last week had been filled with reports of werewolves hunting down muggles and wizards alike near Freshwater West beach and it fell to her, as an Auror, to hunt them and incarcerate them. The current evidence, a sealed bag with rosy werewolf fur that smelled of yeast, clearly pointed out at the culprit but Dominique just wasn't sure.

"See you in the morning, Hilda," Dominique called out to the Department's secretary, letting the evidence bag fall into a drawer that would take it directly to the Department of Mysteries for further analysis. The stout girl was barely younger than Dominique but had been working there for a year before Dominique joined the force. While they were not friends, their amicable relationship mattered to Dominique because Hilda had been the first person who made her feel welcomed in the Department.

"I'm sorry, Dom," Hilda said with a guilty voice and evasive eyes. "I won't be coming tomorrow. My cousin's wedding is this weekend and I took my vacations early so I can travel to Romania."

"Oh," said Dominique, surprised. "Well, have fun at the wedding. The office will be sad without you."

Hilda smiled and Dominique waved her hand in farewell. She shouldn't be surprised that other people had lives outside work; not everyone was like Uncle Charlie.

She walked home that night, not wanting to experience the awful sensation of Apparition. The last time she ended up on the ground, covered in her own vomit and it hadn't been pretty. Teddy had laughed at her until she shot him Aunt Ginny's Modified Bat-Boogey hex. After that, he wsa the one covered in slime.

The streets were empty; it wasn't unusual, as her schedule often kept her at the office after hours. In fact, today was the thirteenth day in a row that she only went home to sleep for a couple of hours and Dominique was considering not showing up tomorrow.

Her home, a little appartment Mére helped furnish, was only a block away from one of the many Ministry's exits. Sometimes Dominique hated that but tonight it was a blessing.

She climbed the stairs of the apartment until she reached her floor. Down the hall, the only purple door of the building was a beacon of solitude and rest, and in those last steps from the staircase to the door, the small briefcase she carried weighted more than her soul.

"I'm home," she said as soon as she entered. Nina came running to her, wiggling her tail in happiness. Dominique kneeled and stroked Nina's soft fur, closing her eyes to relish the warm feelings in her chest. Nina had been with her for a long time and sometimes she was Dominique's only comfort. "Did you miss me?"

Nina stomped her paw in front of Dominique, bobbing her head up and down.

"Well, you deserve a nice dinner."

That said, Dominique stood and went to the fireplace. Though she had wanted a calm night, there was something missing and only Teddy's (and Nina's) company could help her soothe the alarmingly sharp pounding on her chest. She had the feeling something was about to happen —something that Dominique feared.

It was the same feeling she got when she thought of the werewolves. The hunch she struggled to ignore was stronger.

"Hello? Teddy?" she said, head stuck in the green, cold fire. "Would you like to have dinner with me?"

"Dinner?" Teddy asked, coming from a room to the side of his living room. Dominique had never visited his home, but what she could see of it when she Floo-called him was cozy and nice. "I'll be there in a few minutes. Just let me finish something."

"Sure," she said with a smile before pulling out of the fire and shaking soot off her hair. "I hate soot, Nina. That's precisely why I don't use the Floo at the Ministry."

Nina barked and sat in front of Dominique, wiggling her tail still.

"We'll make dinner for three tonight," Dominique explained, taking off her shoes and kicking them to a side.

Then she waved her wand.

At once, baby red potatos and baby carrots washed themselves in the water flowing from the sink; a knife chopped garlic into tiny pieces and dried thyme leaves were crushed in a mortar. With another wave, the potatos, carrots, some olive oil, the garlic and thyme were mixed in a bowl, then Dominique sprinkled salt and pepper on her own, remembering Grandma Molly's advice:

«Always salt your food, dear. It wards off evil spirits and it tastes like home.»

Nina barked at the fireplace before Teddy appeared from out of it. As always, he brought a few bottles of Abbot's Homemade Beer, the brand they favored.

"Am I late?" she heard Teddy's breathy voice. "I had some friends over and had to usher them out."

"You didn't have to," Dominique laughed. "But that's better for me so I guess it's alright. You're just in time to bake them."

Teddy raised a pink eyebrow. "I've told you I suck at cooking."

Nona barked and Dominique laughed. Nina had to eat Teddy's kitchen's experiments and while she didn't get sick (Dominique checked if the food was safe for dogs with a useful spell Mr Hagrid taught her), Nina hadn't liked it.

"Don't worry, Nina," Dominique reassured. "You won't have to eat anything Teddy cooks tonight, dear."

Nina barked and circled around Teddy. He chuckled, sending butterflies to Dominique's chest, and set the beer in the fridge.

The dog went to the living room and Dominique guessed she'd climb up the couch and wait for them to be done.

"Just heat it and I'll tell you when to stop," Dominique encouraged Teddy, who eyed the mix of potatos and carrots with reluctance. "It will be alright."

"Just because you ask nicely, Dom," he agreed and took out his wand, pointing it at the mixing bowl. He let the heating charm wrap around the mix.

"Don't just lay the charm, Teddy," Dominique chastised. "Let the heat enter the food. Feel it."

He tried but couldn't. Cooking was not for anyone, and though Dominique finally told him when to stop and the food tasted alright, Teddy couldn't be called a master chef.

"Tell me about your day," he asked.

Dominique smiled, drinking from her bottle. She loved that Teddy always listened to her, but the bitter thought of him asking only for her job was drowning her in worry. Of all the topics he could chose, Teddy always asked about her investigation.

"It's fine. We worked hard but I think we're getting close to the culprit," she shared with him. Her hear beat faster then and Nina came back from the living room, sitting at her feet and resting her head on Dominique's lap. She stroked Nina's fur between her ears, calming down her anxiety. Nina was always helpful like that.

"Really?" Teddy bristled. Momentaneously, his pupils elongated. Dominique tried to ignore it. "Who is the culprit? Some Fenrir Greyback's offspring?"

Dominique shrugged. "Let's speak of something else, Teddy. Why don't we go to the living room and watch a movie?"

"The muggle things Uncle Ron likes so much?" he asked. Dominique nodded and giggled at Teddy's grimace. He had never liked anything to do with the muggle world, though he certainly was amicable enough with muggleborns they knew.

"Yeah. This one's about a space ship and its crew. It's based on a TV series. You should come and watch it sometime..."

Her words faded into nothing as they sat on the couch. Dominique pulled up her legs and Nina came to her side immediately, leaning into her. Teddy sat at the other side.

"Nina's our third wheel tonight, aren't you, Nina?" Teddy pat Nina's head with affection. He had been the one who brought Dominique to the dog refuge and let her choose a dog, years before that night. For that, Dominique would always love him. And for many other things, she thought with a blush.

"She wouldn't be if you behaved yourself," Dominique teased with a smirk. "Remember that time when —"

"When she came into the room because she heard you moaning and attacked me, thinking I was hurting you? I'll never forget it, Dom," Teddy laughed and pulled her for a passionate kiss. On his lips, the taste of beer was strong.

"I'll start the movie," she waved her wand, turning on the TV and her Blu Ray, and for a few minutes they enjoyed the movie until Dominique couldn't ignore the beating on her chest any longer.

"I know it's you," she blurted out without looking at Teddy. She felt him stiffen at her side and her skin was suddenly cold. Nina, sensing something wasn't right, barked. "Don't worry, Nina. We're not fighting."

Teddy pulled his arm away from Dominique and the lack of weight on her shoulders felt awful.

"What are you going to do? Send me to Azkaban for biting a few people?"

Rage filled Dominique's blood.

"How could you? I almost expected you to deny it. Why didn't you drink Wolfsbane?"

Teddy stood up, smirking. He paced away from Dominiqu who was still sitting down. Nina, protectively, pulled herself onto Dominique's lap and faced Teddy.

"I did drink it, Dom," Teddy breathed out with his crooning voice she loved so much. The words coming out of his mouth felt blasphemous, but she didn't lie to herself: she had expected something like that for quite some time. Teddy's dislike of muggles and the endless questions about her investigation... "I drank it and delighted in the moon changing me. I enjoyed hunting. Wouldn't you like to join me sometimes? I just need to kiss you a little deeper."

He walked towards her, kneeling in front of her as he said those words. The suggestion of turning her into the same creature he was didn't startle her. She had put the idea into his mind years ago after a specially bad transformation when she thought her sympathy wasn't enough. But this distorted thought... It corroded her good sense and Dominique almost said yes.

"Why, Teddy?"

Teddy snorted. He wasn't unsettled by the way Nina growled. "Because I was bored."

Dominique had no words after that. After a few seconds, Teddy sat at her side again and the movie, forgotten for a few minutes, regained its spectators. Her skin tingled when he held her arm roughly but she didn't move.

When the movie ended and Teddy stood to leave, Dominique let him.

"I enjoyed this night, Dom," Teddy told her as he was about to leave. Pulling her to her feet, Teddy kissed her lips and she let herself get lost in him up until he lightly bit her lip. "Think of what I said. We could have fun together, Dom. I'd love to have you with me."

He disappeared into the fire.

Dominique remained standing in front of the fireplace.

Nina howled at her feet.

The next morning Dominque quit her job. She couldn't go after him. She couldn't chase Teddy and have him killed. Yet, at home, she wondered if she could let other people be killed just because he was bored.

When night fell and he came home again, Dominique had an answer for him.

"Wherever we go and whatever we do," she bartered with her hands on her hips. "Nina stays with us."

The dog barked happily, though she was sitting between them as if wanting to protect Dominique.

Teddy smiled and kneeled in front of Nina.

"Of course we'll keep her! She's lovely."

Dominique laughed. At the bottom of her mind, a voice called out and told her everything was wrong. What about her career? What about her family? What about the people she would let Teddy kill?

Nina barked again and Dominique forgot those thoughts. She was with the two people she loved the most. Nothing could be wrong if it was done in the name of love.


	3. Regaining Your Love

**Regaining Your Love**

 _Written by **Firediva0**_

* * *

From her place on the couch, Narcissa sighs. This has been going on for hours, and she simply wants it to end.

"Lucius," she finally interrupts, raising her eyes to meet his. "I understand that you guys are having problems, but a gift won't solve anything."

"I love her, Narci," Lucius says seriously. "If I can do something, anything, that will make her as happy as she used to be, then I want to do it."

Narcissa stares at him, attempting to see his very soul. Should she tell him? Sure, Narcissa loved seeing Bellatrix happy, but gifts alone couldn't buy that happiness. If they did, it'd just be temporary. Like a dream, it would disperse in a cloud of particles, leaving everyone involved heartbroken.

Would she be able to deal with the consequences?

"Puppies," someone says abruptly. Surprised, Narcissa jumps and turns to the door, shaking her head in amusement when she sees her husband, Rabastan, slyly reclining on it.

"I thought you were at Rodolphus' house," she says softly. Rabastan shrugs, his nose twitching in distaste.

"The second I saw Andromeda give him the bedroom eyes, I was out," he exclaims, shaking his head in disgust. Narcissa laughs, the sound carrying through the room.

"Can we get back to the topic at hand?" Lucius interrupts when it seems like Rabastan is about to say something else. The two Lestranges gaze at him, shocked, as if they had forgotten he had even been there.

"He told you," Narcissa says, taking a moment to glare at her husband for making the decision for her, "to get her a puppy."

Lucius blinks in awe.

"Bellatrix likes puppies?" he asks slowly, hesitantly. Narcissa nods, a spark of amusement in her eyes.

"She is a girl, after all," she says. "It shouldn't be outlandish to think that she may like puppies."

"Do you know what kind of puppy she likes?" Lucius questions, mind blown. Narcissa laughs.

"A golden retriever," she tells him, a smile coming onto her face. "Once, when we were younger, Bellatrix had been in the process of killing a man. Her dog, Annie, had gone to get the man's wife, who had attempted to escape. Ever since then, she's been rather fond of them."

"I remember when Rodolphus found out," Rabastan remarks softly. "The man had been smitten with Bellatrix, but that moment had scared the living hell out of him."

"Why did they break up?" Lucius asks curiously, having not heard the story himself. He simply knows that Rodolphus had been her first love, and they ended up breaking up.

"Bella met you," Narcissa says tenderly. "Don't get me wrong, she loved Rodolphus, but she knew she couldn't give him everything he needed. So, despite the fact that it hurt him, she pulled away. Luckily, our sister, Andromeda met him, and they found love."

"It's amazing how intertwined our family tree is," Lucius says after a moment. Rabastan's lips quirk up in a smile and he finally moves to sit by Narcissa.

"I like to think it was fate," he remarks. "After all, if you hadn't been so obsessed with power, Narcissa would have never met me."

"I resent that," Lucius says, scowling. "I wasn't obsessed with power!"

"Aren't you the one who said, _'One day, you will all bow before me',_ to all of the Slytherins?" Rabastan questions, smirking. Lucius flushes and rises from his chair.

"I have to go," he announces hurriedly. "Thank you for having me."

That said, he left quickly, ignoring the cackles coming from behind him. He is a Malfoy! He doesn't have to listen to such vile lies.

The blush on his cheeks glows brighter.

~~o-O-o~~

Lucius gently knocks on the door to Bellatrix's room, trying to shush the small puppy beside him. The door opens, yet Bella doesn't say anything. Slightly deterred, he hesitates. However, he forces himself to move into the room, the puppy walking beside him.

"Love," he begins, wincing when Bellatrix doesn't turn around, "I'm sorry."

Bellatrix continues to mess with her shelf of battle plans, frowning when she can't seem to find the right one.

"I have a present for you," Lucius forces himself to say. Finally, Bellatrix pauses, a scowl darkening her features.

"If you think this will buy my love back, you are wrong," she says menacingly. Lucius hurriedly shakes his head, despite knowing she can't see him.

"I promise that's not my aim," he says hurriedly. "I just want to see you happy, Bella."

Finally, the woman turns around, her eyes going wide when they land on to the small dog besides her husband.

"Is that…" she trails off, her eyes going misty. She shakes her head to herself, whispering repeatedly, _'it can't be her.'_

"Your sister told me about Annie," Lucius says softly, tenderly. "While I know she can't replace her, I was hoping that she'd make you feel better."

"You idiotically sweet man!" Bellatrix fumes, tears finally falling from her eyes. "It's impossible to stay mad at someone who does something so sweet!"

Lucius grins and beckons Bella closer, chuckling when his wife agrees for once.

"She's beautiful," Bella remarks softly, admiring the wild golden fur of the puppy. "Have you named her?"

"No," Lucius tells her. "I wanted it to be you who named her."

Bella pauses, her eyes meeting her husband's. Reaching out, she roughly pulls him down by the back of his neck, bringing him into a passionate kiss.

"I love you," she whispers, "but you are _so_ not out of the dog house."

Lucius curses and Bella smiles at him sweetly.

"I'm going to name her Ana," she says after a moment.

"Annie and Anna," Lucius begins, smiling. "Such beautiful names."

When his wife beams at him, Lucius knows he's done a good job. Sure, he may not have been out of the dog house, but he knows that Bellatrix still loves him; something, that made everything worth it.


	4. Everything Has Changed

**Everything Has Changed**

 _Written by **Book of Hope**_

* * *

 _All I knew this morning when I woke_

 _Is I know something now_

 _Something I didn't before_

...

Still half asleep, she hears the sound of several voices ringing in her ear. She tries to ignore it for a little while longer; the apprenticeship she has recently started at St. Mungo's was an amazing experience, and Lily can not imagine doing something else in her future, but she came back from her night shift at a very late hour, so a little bit more sleep would be nice.

Sighing, Lily nevertheless opens her eyes ; her parents had always told her that she was far too stubborn and curious for her own good, but glancing at the clock on her nightstand she sees that it is only quarter past 7. And hearing several voices from what sounded to be the kitchen was most certainly nothing usual. Swiftly, she removes the covers and looks around. Everything looks just fine. Her room, the giant bookshelf, the desk with a couple of papers spread all over it, the little chair she uses to dump her clothes on…

The young red-haired witch sits up straight in her bed. Something wasn't right. She doesn't know why, but she had a certain feeling that this day would turn out differently than others.

It is strange, she admits that, but ever since she was a little child, she has always been able to predict when something unexpected is going to happen. Usually it is just something like a surprise birthday party, or a simple trip to muggle London… For some reason she can sense it when something is bothering the people around her; she can see it in their faces, the worry in their eyes and they start acting differently.

Shaking her head in order to get rid of the strange feeling and the voices, she stretches her arms and legs and gets out of her warm comfy bed. After a quick look in the mirror, she brushes her long, red curls, puts on her clothes and hurries down the stairs.

Immediately after she pushes the door open, she knows that her feeling was right. Something _is_ wrong. Very wrong.

Admittedly, the kitchen of the Potter house is quite roomy, but Lily has never seen so many people crowded together in the room. She recognizes a couple of them; her aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron, her 21-year-old cousin Rose, Hugo and even Teddy is there; he stares, like a lot of other people, at a little piece of paper in his hands.

Rubbing her eyes to chase the sleep out of them, she takes a second glance, and realizes that probably the whole Weasley family is attending this – whatever 'this' is. Bill, Fleur, Victoire, Dominique, Louis, George, Angelina, Fred, Percy accompanied by his Audrey, Molly and Lucy. Sitting on the kitchen counter, Lily even spots her godmother Luna with her family. Her Grandparents are there as well.

Quietly, the 20-year-old red-haired witch enters, though probably she could have gone in there singing in her worst voice and the people still wouldn't notice her. They are all talking at the same time, some of them even making wide gestures with their hands. Lily has no idea what they're talking about, especially this early in the morning, but judging by the utterly surprised and partly horrified expressions on all of their faces, the young witch can tell that it can' be anything good.

Passing a couple of complete strangers in dark black robes, her eyes spot a piece of messy jet black hair. Albus! Ducking several people's hands, she finally reaches her brothers.

However, before she can voice a single word, James puts a finger over his lips; telling her to be quiet. Then he points with his finger and Lily follows his direction with her emerald eyes.

The sight that greets her causes her eyes to widen. There are her father and mother, in what seems to be a very heated conversation with the Minister's under-secretary and several people of his council. Her father's eyes are gleaming furiously; something Lily has rarely seen.

Her mother on the other hand looked positively furious; though this was less surprising. After all the Weasley's are well known for their temper.

Just then the red-haired witch notices that the piece of paper everyone is holding in their hands, is not any paper, but the latest edition of the Morning Prophet.

What in Merlin's name is written in there that everyone is so upset about?

...

And all I've seen since eighteen hours ago

Is green eyes and freckles

And your smile in the back of my mind making me feel right

...

Naturally, Teddy Lupin has noticed her presence immediately. From his position he has a perfect sight to the door, and even though he had only seen bits and pieces, the colour of her flaming red hair is unmistakable.

He watches her as she watches what is going on in her kitchen. He wonders why she looks so tired, then he remembers that she had a long night at St. Mungos. He admires her for her choice of career. As the only daughter of the famous Harry Potter, she could have asked for any job she wanted, but chose to pursue the career as a medi-witch; she always helped people whenever she had the chance to.

Confusion is written in her amazing green eyes, but Teddy doesn't blame her. After all it doesn't happen everyday that you wake up to find your house completely crowded with people, does it?

Soon, her puzzled face changes into a small smile; she has spotted her brothers.

Clutching the newspaper article closer in his fists, he decides to follow her. The by now grown up Potter children had always been like his siblings, and the 30-year-old animorphmagus had always preferred being around them than all these other strangers in the room. Besides, from what it looks like, Harry is in the middle of starting a fight with the people from the ministry.

In order to not startle her, he carefully put his hand down on her was in vain, as she still jumps around, a sort of relieved look on her face when she sees who it is.

"Teddy! Weren't you sitting over there?"

He chuckles at the way she softly scratches the tiny freckles on her nose. "I thought I could join you. Tell you what this is all about."

"Well, that would be lovely indeed. It's kind of strange waking up to find the house full of people…"

Putting on a serious expression now, he wordlessly hands her the paper. "Here, take a look."

Delicate hands took the newspaper, her eyes immediately scanning the letters. Her facial expression changes instantly; when before there was a curious little smile covering her face, her lips now form a very thin line and her sparkling, excited eyes widened in disbelief.

"That – That's a joke. It has to be. Please tell me this is a joke."

Teddy sighs. The red-haired witch has always been his favourite and no matter how much he wants to make her happy, he shakes his head. "I'm afraid it's true. That's why everyone's so upset."

She looks up, and stares at him. He knows that she is fighting the tears that are welling up in her emerald eyes. "But this – this changes everything."

Thee sadness in her words almost break his heart. For a moment he ponders over whether he should take the now shaking witch into his arms; the way he has always done. But then the article's lines appear in his brain, loud and clear, and he draws back the hand he has already outstretched. They have to accept it, and he cannot get too close to her because he might be sent all over the country to a strange woman and would never see the little red haired witch again.

So he merely nods, trying to feel as little as possible.

"Yes, everything has changed."

…

 _'Cause all I know is we said hello_

 _And your eyes look like coming home_

 _All I know is a simple name_

 _Is everything has changed_

 _..._

Lily nervously enters the room, her whole body shaking. The sight that greets her eyes only makes it worse. A room, separated in two parts; elder girls and young women on the left, younger men on the right; all lined up, waiting for the ministry officials to hand them the item that would determine the rest of their lives.

On wobbly legs, she joins the other young woman and walks over to the end of the queue. Everyone's face is a mirror of her own. They all think about how a sudden article in the Morning Prophet can change an entire country's life. Lily spots her cousin Rose a couple places in front of her, standing in the queue, nervously fidgeting with the little necklace her current boyfriend had given her. Lily knows her cousin hopes despite all odds to be able to spend her life with him.

But the twenty-year-old red head has always been better at accepting the reality than her cousin.

And one girl after another, the line gets shorter with each passing minute. On her way to the front, she thinks back to the previous day; they day everything started to change…

 _She couldn't believe that this was happening. But the evidence was right in front of her; plain black letters written on white paper. She skimmed over the page again, re-reading these two lines over and over again._

"… _**as it is common knowledge, the war has taken a lot of good people from us. The latest researchers have confirmed that our worst nightmare has indeed come true: The wizarding population shrinks with each passing year. In a private conference with the Minister, it has therefore been decided that from the minute this article is published, there will be a new law in our community. From now on, every unmarried person – witch or wizard of the age of 17 and above – will be matched together with a partner by our ministry officials. Both witches, and wizards are expected to attend the matching-ceremony, which will take place tomorrow in the Ministry's entrance Hall. Since there is no time to take personal interests in consideration, everyone will be given a portkey that will transport a randomly selected witch and wizard to a certain location. These will be your future husbands and wives. There is no way to undo this marriage. The couple will be given 3 years to get used to one another. After this period, the creation of at least one child per couple is mandatory. Should someone try to defy the new law, they will be sent straight to Azkaban without any – "**_

Lily shakes her head, trying to focus on the present. At least she now knew why all the people were assembled in their kitchen the other day. The majority of the Weasley-Potter children are – like Lily herself – still unmarried. Her father has tried to find a way around it, but all his attempts have been in vain.

Taking a few steps closer to the counter, Lily's heart starts racing faster. Ever since she was a little child, she had wanted to have as happy a marriage as her parents. Now… the mere thought of having to marry a total stranger sends shivers down her spine.

Glancing to the right, she sees both her brothers standing in the line. They don't know Lily's here yet. Her father has promised her he would find a way to ensure his little girl's happiness and therefore told her to wait at home as long as possible. But Lily wasn't one to hold onto false hope. She had gathered her suitcase and packed in a couple of her favourite items; after all she doesn't know where the port-key will send her, and how long she'll be there. She'd be saying 'hello' to a man she had never seen before.

The most important thing however is safely stored in the front pocket of her jacket. A moving photograph of her entire family, as they sat under the giant tree behind their house, waving happily into the camera – her parents, brothers, aunts and uncles, grandparents and….Teddy.

Lily would never admit it out aloud, but she'd probably miss her godbrother the most. In a way, he had always been the one to look out for her. And unlike to her brothers – whom she also loved dearly – Teddy had never pushed her away because she was younger than everyone else.

She sighs and while the queue in front of her gets smaller with each passing minute, she searches the crowd of young men for the young animorphmagus. She has almost given up, when she finds him. He stands only inches away from his future destiny. His hair represented his feelings. Black as ashes. Then it happened. Emerald green meeting dark blue. And for one moment, _for one precious moment,_ Lily could forget everything around her.

…

 _And all my walls_

 _Stood tall painted blue_

 _But I'll take them down_

 _Take them down and open up the door for you._

 _..._

He knows she is standing behind him. He knows he shouldn't be turning around. He knows it is a mistake. He knows it all.

But he does it anyway.

Teddy feels his heart hammering in his chest. Her eyes, her beautiful emerald eyes… they try not to give anything away. Lily always tries to appear strong and to hide what she is truly feeling. But her eyes betray her. Teddy has known her for so long that he can read her like an open book. He can tell that she is nervous, and afraid…but then again, who isn't?

Everybody in this hall, witch or wizard alike, will be forced to marry. No, not out of love, he thought bitterly, because of a couple of – probably pureblooded cowards – whose own children probably already had their happily ever after. Because they are afraid that the wizarding kind will be vanquished one day and with it, their legacy.

It takes all his strength and will power not to leave his place in the queue and run over to the young red-haired witch. He wants to put his arms around her. Tell her that everything would be alright, that there was no need for her to worry. But he can't do that. Because it would be a lie.

He wants to wipe away the tears he knew would be coming. He wants to tell her that she's a wonderful person. He wants to tell her that every single man in this room will be happy to be matched with her. But Teddy cannot do that either. Because he'd lose his composure. Because he just realized, standing in the queue, how much he will miss her.

Teddy still looks at her. This is their way of communication. Staring into each other's eyes. He just hopes that she would get the message. That he'd always think about her, no matter whom he had to marry.

After that, he shakes his head, breaks the connection. Now there's only one more person in front of him. He glances at the clock. His last minutes of freedom.

Then, it's his turn.

"Teddy Lupin, 30, half-blood."

"That's me."

The man looks like he couldn't care less. Well, considering the amount of men he had already served, this was probably the case. Without another word, he hands Teddy a small, wrapped package. The portkey that would open the doors to his future; the portkey that would take him to his future wife.

…

 _All I know is you held the door_

 _You'll be mine and I'll be yours_

 _All I know since yesterday_

 _Is everything has changed_

...

With shaking hands, Lily accepts the little package that the ministry woman handed her. Then she walks into the 'departure room'. By now, her whole body was trembling and she carefully unfolds the package. She stares at the little stone that has been placed into it and almost laughs at the irony. Her portkey turned out to be one half of a broken heart. _How fitting_.

Gathering the last pieces of what has remained of her Potter-courage, Lily closes her eyes and touches the stone.

She hates this way of transportation, like her father, but _unlike_ her father, she always manages to land on her feet instead of face forward. The thought of her family gives the red-haired witch the strength she needs. One deep breath later she finally opens her eyes. The sun is shining down from the sky, warming her body.

She stands in front of a little blue door that belongs to her new house. The house she will now share with her husband-to-be. Desperately, she tries to get her trembling hands under control, but no matter how hard she tries it doesn't work.

Lily hates to admit it, but she's too afraid to open the door. She doesn't know how much longer she will be standing there, but in that moment, she doesn't care. It will be the last moments of freedom in her life. It still amazed her how a simple article could change everything just like that.

Yesterday, her world was fine. Perfect even. Her only worries were her fear about passing the upcoming medi-witch exam…

Now she has the feeling that her whole world was falling apart, she cannot fight the tears that are forming in her eyes anymore and frozen, she watched as they fell from her cheeks, shattering on the ground.

Then there is a sound and the door moves. Lily's heart races. She knows that the man who would hold the door open for her would be her new husband. She would be his and he would be hers for the end of their lives.

Soon, the door was opened completely and Lily almost closed her eyes, afraid that whoever opened the door would see her tears.

It was only for a second, but she gets to see a short glimpse of a dark blue eye that was peeking through the slot. And Lily cannot believe her eyes.

…

 _Come back and tell me why_

 _I'm feeling like I've missed you all this time_

 _And meet me there tonight_

 _And let me know that it's not all in my mind_

...

Having heard the sound of a portkey's arrival, Teddy walked back to the door as slowly as possible. He didn't expect his future 'wife' to arrive so shortly after him at the cottage. Admittedly, it had already darkened outside, so it is indeed safer for her to arrive.

Standing right behind the door, he debates how he should open the bloody thing. Fast, to get it over with? Or carefully so he could get a peek at the woman and slam the door shut in the worst case?

Well, he won't slam the door, that would only make matters worse, he thinks, but he decides to still opens the door at a slow speed.

At first he sees nothing. She has to be shorter than him, he supposes. Then his eyes fell on the slightly familiar flaming red hair and he sighs. Wonderful, the last thing he needs is someone to remind him of the red-haired witch he will probably never see again.

Balling his hands into fists, cursing his fate, he finally opens the door completely. And almost falls over backwards.

"Lily?" he asks, eyes wide and mouth agape..

The emerald eyed woman in front of him dropped her suitcase in shock.

"Teddy?"

If she hadn't spoken, Teddy might have thought it isn't real. That his mind is playing a trick on him.

Carefully, as if not to break this illusion, he reaches out a trembling hand and softly touches her shoulder. She is real. Lily was real.

…

 _And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies_

 _The beautiful kind, making up for lost time_

 _Taking flight, making me feel right_

...

Lily feels his touch on her shoulder and her hearts skips a beat. He was real. Teddy was real.

Relief was flashing over her like a giant wave. She flings herself into his arms and for the first time she allows herself to cry. When Teddy puts his equally shaking hands around her trembling body, all the pressure seems to be floating away from her.

Laying her head down on his chest, Lily inhales his oh so familiar scent. The smell of home, of family.

Then Teddy starts stroking her flaming red hair and whispers calming words into her ear.

After a while, she lifts her head and looks up at him. It looks like he had been crying as well, his dark blue eyes still a little watery.

"How is this possible?" she whispers, her voice still weak. "The chances that both of us…"

Teddy only shrugs. "Fate, Lils. A hideous trick of fate."

He doesn't let go of her, only tightens his arms and presses her closer to his body. Lily felt the butterflies in her stomach.

For a moment, neither of them says a word; both of them too happy and too relieved that they were each other's match.

Then, Teddy lifts her chin once more, making her look into his blue eyes.

"I thought I had lost you for good."

"You did?"

"Yes. I – You have always been so much more to me than the little Potter girl."

Lily's emerald eyes widened. "Wait, does this mean – "

"This means I'm glad to get a chance at making up for lost time. A time together with you. Only if you want, that is," he added quickly, worry suddenly evident in his voice.

Once again, tears stream down Lily's cheeks. This time however, they were happy tears.

"I do, Teddy. Believe me, I do."

Gathering her courage, she stands on her toe-tips and softly kisses him on the lips.

…

 _I just want to know you better_

 _All I know is a newfound brightness_

 _All my days I'll know your face_

 _All I know since yesterday_

 _Is everything has changed_

 _..._

"Can I open them now? Please?"

Teddy chuckles at his wife's excitement. It never ceases to amaze him how much everything has changed during the last couple of months. The way they had felt about the marriage law, the worry, the fear, and the anger and how it had all turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to them.

Without it, Teddy would have never told Lily how he really felt. He had always assumed that she didn't see him as anything more than yet another older brother and even if she did, the age difference between them would surely change her mind.

But now he knows that everything happens for a reason and that sometimes, happiness can be found even in what seems to be the darkest of times.

Pushing the memories away, he smiles at the red-haired witch.

"Heavens, Lil, don't be so impatient."

He just gets a laugh in return. "I have Weasley and Potter genes in my blood. There is no other option other than being impatient. Now please, can I see it?"

"Fine," he says and takes off the cloth that is covering her eyes.

Immediately, she looks around, and when her eyes fall on the little box in front of her, she flashes him a 1000 watt smile.

"Oh, Teddy, she's so adorable!" Lily says and carefully picks up the little puppy; cradling it lovingly in her arms.

Teddy also pets the little dog, before he gives Lily a lovely kiss. "Her mother and other siblings passed away. She needed a good home."

Tears in her emerald eyes, she kissed him back; the little black puppy still safely wrapped in her arms. "We'll take good care of you, my little one, I promise."

Teddy puts an arm around his wife, and beamed at her. If someone had told him about this a year ago, that he would be happily married to one Lily Luna Potter, he would have probably told them to see a healer.

"Happy Anniversary, my love."

Yes, everything has changed.

…

 _I just want to know you better_

 _All I know is a newfound brightness_

 _All my days I'll know your face_

 _All I know since yesterday_

 _Is everything has changed_


	5. Untitled

_Written by **Lily MJ Fae**_

* * *

Lily's heart ached as she looked upon all the various dogs in their cramped cages. She hated this place, for the soul fact that it showed her how many animals were in need, and not being given the same luxuries as so many others.

She wasn't really sure why she had agreed to join her parents in the hunt for the perfect dog, probably the guilt that she felt about moving out so immediately after school. But she was there, and suffering. Her parents were looking at the smaller dogs, but Lily had been drawn to the larger breeds. They seemed more able to protect her family, and most of them seemed calmer.

She turned a corner and bumped into someone, almost losing her balance. They caught her though, and helped her regain her composure. She hadn't been prepared to look him in the eyes and have everything change. Slowly his eyes bled to life, a startling shade of green taking life before her. Beyond that, the colors rippled out, like a drop of water in a pond, giving his skin, his hair, his lips color. Then his clothing. Soon the world around them became colorful.

Lily became very aware of the fact that her mouth was slightly opened, and so she looked at the person in front of her, her soulmate. Beyond the surprise of having actually found her soulmate, came the complete shock that the man who stood before her was none other than her boyfriend's best friend, Remus Lupin. And he appeared to be just as in shock as she was.

"Hello, Remus," Lily said, unable to think of anything else to say. What could she say in this situation?

"Lily, I-I should go," he stammered out before trying to turn away.

She grabbed his wrist. "Don't."

He looked back to her, guilt covering his face.

"James and I knew we weren't each other's soulmates. He and I knew this day was coming. That was why we kept away from everyone when we started dating. Both of us were turning 17 soon, and we just wanted to try dating and have a chance. But we knew the whole time we weren't each other's soulmates."

"He still loves you."

"I know, and I love him. But we also agreed that when we found out soulmates, we'd be with them."

"I can't- "

"I admire that you are such a good friend to him, but it's not like either of us chose this, Remus. It happened. I'm honestly shocked we managed to not find out until now."

"He's going to be so mad."

"Remus, I will talk to him. And I'm happy to give you time to process things, and then we'll get together and talk."

"No, Lily. I can't-I can't be with you. I can't do that to James. And I can't do that to you."

"Do what to me? Remus, did you forget who I have been dating? I noticed things, all those years. And I saw him sneak out more than once with Peter and Sirius. I watched from the window and saw the most peculiar sight. I saw a stage, a large dog and a werewolf hanging out. I assume whatever Peter is, it's too small to see from Gryffindor Tower."

Remus's face turned pale. It was shocking enough that his soulmate was his best friend's girl, but the fact that she knew his deepest and darkest secret was a whole other level of surprising.

"Well then you should understand."

"Why? Because someone hurt you a long time ago and you're forced to deal with the consequences?"

"Because I could hurt you."

"Nah. That won't happen. Besides, someday there will be at least a treatment I gather. Otherwise, I'll just do what the boys did. I'll become an Animagus."

"Lily- "

"Remus, don't worry so much."

They stood in silence for a moment, Lily smiling at him, and Remus avoiding making any further eye contact.

"Lily?" her parents called from somewhere in pound. "We've found the perfect dog."

"I have to go. I _am_ telling James tonight. We're supposed to go out. And then we should get together. Next week sometime."

"Lily- "

But she had already taken off, her hair like flames trailing and disappearing around the corner.

Lily and James sat in the coffee shop in silence. Lily's hands wrapped around her mug, as she enjoyed the new view of the world.

"James," she started, not wanting to put off the inevitable. "I had an interesting day."

"Oh?" It seemed to her that he was already guessing at where this was going.

"I ran into someone at the pound today, and…well they're my soulmate."

He looked at her, obviously hurt by the fact that their relationship was going to end.

"I need you to not be mad about it. Because it's someone we both know."

"Oh?"

Lily's heart sank for James. She did love him, but they had both agreed that they would be with their soulmates if they ever met them.

"Just remember that no one can control who their soulmate is, and that he is in denial because he cares about you a great deal."

"Of course, it would be Sirius. He gets everyone," James said as he slammed his mug on the table.

"No, James, it's not Sirius. It's- "

"Peter? How in Merlin's name could I lose you to him?"

"James. I asked you to not be mad. And no, it's not Peter either. It's Remus. And as I told you, he's in denial. I'm giving him a week to adjust. But James, you and I made that agreement. We kept to ourselves as much as possible. We avoided and refused eye contact with anyone. It was going to happen eventually. You should be glad that you have a friend who is willing to put aside the fact that they found their soulmate for you."

"Well, good on him. Because I've change my mind. I don't want to break up just because someone else came along. I'm in love with you, Lily. I want to marry you."

"James, I love you too. I do. But even if we wanted to get married, the ministry won't allow it now. I have found my soulmate James. And if you loved me, you would let me be with them."

"It's not fair."

"I know, James. But life isn't always fair. Just, please understand that I still care about you. I always will."

She kissed the top of his head before she left, knowing that he needed to sort through his feelings.

Remus sat waiting for Lily at the Three Broomsticks. He'd convinced her that was the best place to meet. He had hoped that the filthy bar might make her reconsider. He thought back to the visit made by James just a few days after everything had gone down.

 _Remus was outside, admiring the world despite the guilt he felt for how it came to change. Colors made everything better. They made the world even lovelier. And though he was certain he would refuse Lily for the simple fact that he did not want to hurt James, he was thankful for having discovered their bond and the effect it had._

 _He hadn't noticed James, even as the young man stormed to the back of the house where Remus stood._

 _"Is it true?"_

 _He knew that she had told James, she wrote to him to tell him and warn him that he was angry, so he wasn't really surprised at seeing him in the foul mood he was in._

 _"James, I'm sorry," Remus stated, his eyes looking down at the vibrantly green grass._

 _"You're telling her no, right?"_

 _It wasn't a question. It was a command. And he expected Remus to agree. Normally he might have. He knew he was considering it. But something about the way James didn't seem to care about being even remotely happy for his friend finding his soulmate, made Remus want to defy him._

 _"I don't know if I can," He responded._

 _"Oh, you can," James said, stepping closer, "and you will."_

 _"James- "_

 _Remus was cut off by James's fist meeting harshly with his jaw. Remus Staggered back, in shock. "Tell her no."_

 _Remus felt a sudden fight in him grow. He hadn't planned on putting up a fight to keep Lily. But she was_ his _. She was his soulmate, not James's._

 _"I can't just tell her no. Not without trying," Remus told him. He was hoping this could be solved with ration._

 _James punched him again, or rather tried to. Remus however had been prepared and caught his fist._

 _"James, it's not like I consciously decided that I wanted her to be my soulmate and it happened. It doesn't work like that, because if it did, I'm sure you two would have been soulmates."_

 _James dropped his fist and glared at his friend. "She is mine."_

 _"She left you, James. And she is mine, if I choose to accept. And I don't want to hurt you. But I also don't want to risk hurting her."_

 _James turned away. Remus thought he was going to leave without accepting the facts as they were._

 _"Were you ever going to tell her about Amelia Bones?"_

 _That seemed to be the last trigger. James turned around and tackled Remus to the ground. His fists hit Remus in the nose and jaw and eyebrow. Remus understood the anger. He only allowed his friend to get in a few blows before putting up a fight. He understood James's anger. But now he had to fight for his own right to be happy._

 _James's fist kept flying, and Remus's idea of fighting back was just to try to deflect them as they came in. Remus knew though, he couldn't escape the bruises and scars that would come. He understood though. His friend had loved Lily, still did. And he had lived in denial that she wasn't his soulmate, despite him having accidentally found his right after the graduation ceremony. He wasn't ready to let go._

" _James, you have a soulmate too! And you're hurting her by ignoring her!" Remus shouted._

 _At first, James's hits got stronger, but they were getting weaker, making it possible for Remus to deflect them, as James began to cry._

 _"I thought that she and I would find a way to make it work," he said as he stumbled back on to the ground. "I thought that if we decided we loved each other enough, it wouldn't matter if we weren't with our soulmates."_

 _"James, you both agreed. You both knew it would happen. It was foolish to date in the first place. She cares about you. I care about you. And neither of us wanted this. But it's happened. I don't even know I want that responsibility. I don't want to risk hurting her."_

 _"I know you're lying."_

 _"Lying?"_

 _"I've seen the way you looked at her throughout school. I saw the way you counted the seconds before your patrols together."_

 _"I was never going to try anything."_

 _"Yeah, I know. I just can't believe that I fell in love. I never meant to."_

 _"Sometimes things happen."_

 _James didn't respond. He just huffed and buried his head in his arms._

 _"James, I am sorry."_

 _"How was she so easily able to let go? I mean, she just accepted it and moved on."_

 _"This is Lily we're talking about. She's probably pretending to be cool and collected, but inside, she's probably hurting just as much."_

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"I'd bet some money on it."_

 _"Then why is she moving so fast."_

 _"I don't know. But even if she convinces me to be with her, I would make her wait. I am not going to date her immediately."_

 _"I wish you wouldn't date her at all."_

 _"I'm considering it. Though, not because of you. I don't want to risk hurting her."_

 _"Mooney, she won't have it. She will fight you every day until you give in."_

 _"Well, I guess I'll have to fight harder."_

 _"Don't. She's worth the risk."_

Lily walked up to him and immediately concern filled her emerald eyes. "What happened?"

"James and I had some things to work out. It's nothing."

"Your face is black and blue all over and you have several cuts. That's not nothing."

"It's been dealt with."

"Remus, I know that you have your concerns about us. I am not asking that we date or anything right now. I need time to get over James. We weren't supposed to bond like we did, but it happened, and it hurts that it's over. But I do want to make things work with you. I'm traveling this summer. My parents gift to me was money to travel. And since I can just apparate, I'll have more money to spend as I please. When I come back, we can talk."

Remus's mouth hung open. He had expected her to try and fight that they should do something as soon as possible. But her planning to leave for three months, without anything was out of the blue.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. We could write while I'm gone if you like. But I need some head space. And I'm going to see the world. Merlin, I am so glad to have bumped into you before this trip. It's going to be so much more beautiful with color. Have you stayed up to watch the sunrise yet?"

"Ah, no. Not really."

"Me neither, but I saw a picture of one. I want to. Maybe we can wait until I get back?"

She was looking for a promise. He wanted to tell her no. He wanted to turn her away and run. But his heart wouldn't let him. "That might be nice."

She smiled at him. "It's a date."


	6. Gentle Reminder

**Gentle Reminder**

 _Written by_ **SiriusMarauderFan**

* * *

The date circled in bright red ink screamed up at Lucius from the day planner left open on his desk. The planner had been a gift from Hermione when he'd been hired on at the Ministry some months ago. She'd circled the date herself, so sure that he would forget their anniversary. He hadn't, but it still tormented him.

There was only one week left until their first wedding anniversary and while he'd had most of the day planned well ahead of time, Lucius still hadn't been able to settle on a gift.

"You don't want to mess this up," a new colleague told him when he caught Lucius looking through a jewelry catalogue. "The first anniversary is the most crucial. It sets the standard for all future anniversaries."

"You can't go wrong with chocolate," another joined in. "Or flowers. Women love flowers."

Lucius knew all of this already. He had ordered a bouquet of Hermione's favorite flowers, to be delivered to her office on the day. A box of the finest chocolates from Honeydukes was already purchased, hidden in the bottom drawer of his desk. He'd even made reservations at their favorite restaurant two months in advance. All that he had left to worry about was the gift, and time was ticking away.

A book was too obvious a choice, and it was impossible to narrow Hermione's wish list down to a single book. Her wardrobe was already full, and she had more jewelry than she wanted. There was nothing obvious missing from her life as far as Lucius could tell.

He spent a week's worth of lunch breaks pacing through the aisles in every wizarding shop he could think of, always returning to work empty handed and in a foul mood.

On the last day, desperate, he set out in search of muggle shops to try. He hadn't expected to find something so perfect in the first antique store he stepped foot in: a golden locket with a unique pattern on the front. It was so simple, but the shopkeeper assured him it had once belonged to some muggle monarch he'd never heard of. If anything, at least Hermione would appreciate the history behind gift.

Not even being stuck behind the long line of workers heading back into the Ministry could affect Lucius' good mood as he admired the locket and imagined Hermione's reaction to the gift.

"Lucius can't find out about this."

Even over the noise of the crowd, Lucius could still pick out Hermione's voice. She was ahead of him in line with several people between them, blocking his view of whomever she was talking to.

It was odd, he thought. Hermione never left the Ministry on her lunch breaks. She preferred to eat in her office to keep up momentum, or sneak down to eat with him if things weren't busy. Hadn't she just been complaining about her workload over breakfast?

"Don't worry. There's no way he'll figure it out."

Curious, Lucius ducked his head and tried to peer around the people in front of him. Between the shifting bodies, he caught a glimpse of an arm around his wife's shoulders but couldn't see who it belonged to.

He stormed back to his office at the first opportunity, too upset to care about the locket any longer.

It was ridiculous to think Hermione of all people to could do this to him - the day before their anniversary, no less! But the evidence couldn't be ignored. She was keeping secrets from him, leaving the Ministry without any notice, consorting with strange men. It all added up to an affair.

He tried to forget about it, to tamp down on his anger and finish out the work day, but it was impossible. He considered going home, but how could he step foot in that place when his marriage was a sham? He needed answers.

Hermione was back at her desk when Lucius barged into her office. If he didn't know any better, he would've said she hadn't left all day. She was practically buried under tall stacks of papers and large law tomes. She looked tired when she met his eyes.

"Lucius? What are you doing here?"

"I have to know why you did it," he said, closing the door behind him.

"What are you talking about?"

"I saw you outside ... with _him_." He turned his nose up at her. "How could you go behind my back like this?"

She slumped in her chair and sighed. "I was afraid this would happen. I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Well consider me surprise!" he raged. "Betrayed by my own wife."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "Betrayed? I was just getting you a gift."

Lucius paused. "A … gift?"

"For tomorrow. Our anniversary? You forgot, didn't you?"

"I did not forget. I was out buying your gift when I saw you with a man's arm around you!"

Hermione gaped at him. "You think I'm having an affair, don't you? For Merlin's sake, Lucius. I was with _Harry_. He helped me pick out your gift and took it back to his place until I can pick it up tomorrow." She reached down to her top drawer and pulled out a photograph, passing it to him. "This is your gift."

He stared in disbelief at the chocolate labrador puppy his wife held in the photo. "You got me a dog?"

She smiled, slowly moving towards. "You keep complaining about how quiet the house gets. I thought this would help. You don't really think I would cheat on you, do you?"

The question seemed to subdue him. He ran a hand through his hair, embarrassed at his behaviour.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. I thought you'd finally grown tired of me, but I should've known you wouldn't…" He sighed. "I got carried away. There's no excuse for that."

She wrapped her arms around. "You're forgiven. Do you like your gift?"

"I love it," he said, cupping her cheek. "And I love you more."


	7. Our Little Secret

**Our Little Secret**

 _Written by **Karana the Firebender**_

 _Written as a gift fic for Sam. Sophie (our headmistress) of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry decided to call a little group of volunteers together to write some gift fics for Sam since her beloved dog died a few days ago._

 _Sam, I hope you like this and I'm really sorry for your loss._

* * *

Trees whizzed by on the roadside. Lily watched them through the small window of their car. Letting out a deep sigh she looked over at her sister who sat next to her on the backseats of their family's car. Petunia had copied her motion of watching the landscape outside whizz by. The older girl sat there, her head resting in the palm of her hand, making no noise at all. Lily knew that she was angry at their parents. Angry for forcing them to move away from their friends, their home, from everything the two sisters had known. The younger sister was angry at them too. But what was she to do? It was her parents decision to send her and Petunia to their aunt, who lived in the countryside. It was for 'health reasons' as her parents claimed. Both girls knew it was just an excuse for the real reason, which the two adults hid very well from their kids.

They had already driven through the land for a few hours and it took them even a few more to arrive. Their aunt's house (actually the woman was the aunt of their mother, so technically their grand aunt) was a nice old building in a smaller village somewhere in a rural area of the British isles. It was surrounded by a deep rich forest with huge trees, whose leaves reached from all sorts of different colours of green. Their grand aunt was a nice old lady, who came running out of the house immediately upon their arrival to greet them. They said goodbye to their parents and waved at them until their car disappeared out of their sight.

"Come on, let's get you two inside. You must be hungry. I have a pie in the oven, it should be ready soon." they followed their grandaunt inside.

Lily immediately decided that she liked their new home. It was old. One could clearly see that the furniture and the decorations were some decades old and certainly not modern. But it looked nice and comfy.

"Aunt Rose, do you have a telephone here?" she looked at her sister who had asked the question. She already knew what the older girl needed it for. Petunia was the one who complained the most about the move. The reason: her boyfriend Vernon Dursley. Lily could never understand why she liked that guy. He was fat, ugly and not very intelligent. She couldn't tell what her sister saw in him.

"No, unfortunately not dear. But our neighbours have one. I can show you the way there tomorrow if you need a phone that urgently." replied her aunt.

The two girls got settled in, ate and spent some time talking to their aunt. Over the course off the next days they explored the surroundings and got to know new friends. The more time they spent there the more intrigued Lily became with the surrounding forest. She had gone wandering off into the lighter part of the forest on a few occasions, but she had yet to go deeper inside of it. And right now she had gotten into a very deep part of it.

Mighty trees stood around her and she reached places that very few humans had seen until now. Astonished she stopped in an area where the trees grew lighter. Sunlight filtered through the open spaces between the leaves of the trees leaving wonderful, beautiful patterns on the forest floor.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Lily nearly jumped at the voice and looked around to find a young teen, around her age standing there between the trees. At his side stood a big black dog. Grand Aunt Rose would probably say something about it being a bad omen.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"No problem. You didn't...okay you did maybe a little. But it's okay. I was just surprised to see someone out there, that's all"

The boy came walking over until he stood a few feet away from her "I was a little surprised too. Not a lot of people come here" the boy made a pause, "hey I know you. You're the new girl here in the village. Lily, right? Lily..." he asked fishing for a last name

"Lily Evans. Right. I'm new here. My parents sent me and my sister to live with our grandaunt. Said we needed a little bit more fresh air and a natural environment" she paused, "what's your name?"

"I'm Regulus. Regulus Black. My family has a holiday home here. Ohh, and this is Padfoot, my dog. My parents gave him to me..to...look out for me, whenever they would be away or I would be in the forest" the boy explained.

Lily talked with the strange boy for the next hour or so. Something seemed familiar about him. His last name, his hair, his posture and overall looks. They all reminded her of someone she once knew. Though she couldn't place it quite yet.

"Ohh, look at the time I have to go now. But I'll be back tomorrow, okay? Same spot, same time, okay?" and without waiting for an answer he was gone.

The next day Lily came. And also the following days. Every Time she and Regulus would meet in the forest in the same spot at the same time. Sometimes they would meet earlier and walk around the area. Sometimes they would just sit in the same spot and talk. Through everything, Lily could never get rid of the feeling that thee was something familiar about Regulus. Something she knew.

It came to here one day, when he told her about his past. She had asked why he always seemed to be so attached to the dog. He never let the animal ran too far ahead of them when they walked and took care that he always laid by their side when they just sat there. A sad look had crossed his face and she had almost regretted asking, but still he told her.

"My parents actually gave this dog to me after...my brother died. They thought, maybe it would help me get over it. I think you knew my brother. His name was Sirius"

And then she knew. Knew why the boy's name had seemed so familiar. Of course she had known Sirius Black. The playboy of the school. He was the same age as her and had gone to the same boarding school she had. Lily had even dated one of his friends when they were in fifth year. Much to the dismay of her former friend Severus, who had always loved her and probably still did. She also knew how his brother had died. There was an attack on her school, by a terrorist organization called 'The Death Eaters'. A lot of kids were killed. Even Lily's best friend Marlene McKinnon. She remembered that after it happened many parents took their kids off the school. So did her's.

"I'm so sorry for your loss. I never knew you...Sirius never talked much about his family. He mentioned a brother, but...never his name..."

"Really? Seems like him. He hated our parents. They were too strict for him, too old fashioned he used to say. But we always got along. We were the best of friends before he got to that boarding school. He...we always wanted a dog. A big, black one just like this. Sirius said he wanted to name him Padfoot. It's a stupid name for a dog, I know, but to seven year old him and six year old me, it seemed logical..."

Lily let him talk and talk. He had never told her so much about his family background before. Actually no one had ever told her that much about this topic than him, not even James. Regulus probably felt relieved, the poor kid seemed like he had no one else to talk about this. Not even his parents. Laying an arm around his shoulder she gave him a one sided hug.

"Hey, do you want to go out to the village sometimes? We could start to meet there from now on instead of the forest. Would that be nice?"

He looked at her "Yes, yes that would be a great idea. We could go to my house now. From there you can almost directly go into the village center."

"Sounds nice. Let's go"

And so she followed him through the forest and towards his home.


	8. Untitled 2

_Written by **MissingMommy**_

* * *

Lily has been waiting for this day all week. James, Albus, and Lily had finally talked their dad into getting a puppy, with the agreement that they would take care of it. Their neighbor down the street has a new litter of puppies that they are going to look at.

Lily shifts from foot to foot impatiently as her father knocks on the door. An older woman opens the door and leads them back to the dog pin. The dog is a large dog with a grey and black coat. She watches Lily and her brothers as they make their way towards the puppies.

"They're so small," she says in awe.

"Of course they are," her mother responds. "They're just puppies after all."

Her father asks about the puppies health and the estimated size, but Lily tunes it out. There are seven puppies curled up together but when they notice the three children, they wag their tails happily. The puppies range from grey to black to tan to red in coloring. Lily is slowly looking through the puppies trying to figure out her favorite one.

When she looks at James and Albus to see if they are interested in any, she spots James sitting on the floor, with the reddish grey puppy in his lap, and Albus sitting next to him, petting the puppy. The puppy is obviously loving the attention. She leans over and inspects it. It's small, but not the smallest one of the litter.

James looks up at her. "What do you think?" he asks.

She nods. Albus moves his hand away to allow Lily to pet it.

The woman smiles at them. "That's a good choice," she says. "That one happens to be a female."

Lily looks at her dad, expectedly. He chuckles at them. "I guess that we'll take her."

James carries the puppy carefully on the trip home. Lily doesn't move from his side the entire time. She doesn't want to carry the puppy; she's too afraid that she'll drop her by accident, but she's content just watching as James holds her.

When they get home, James places her on the floor and Lily sits cross legged on the floor, watching as the puppy sniffs around the entryway.

Her dad is grinning as he watches them. "She's going to need a name," he reminds them. "But remember it's something you all have to choose, since she is for _all_ of you."

James, Albus, and Lily throw out several names - Missy, Red, Aurora, Princess Pickle - but the one that sticks is Fluffypup. Lily throws it out, like she did with Princess Pickle, and Albus falls over laughing as she defends her choice: "Did you see the momma? She was fluffy! But this one is only a puppy. So she should be Fluffypup."

James looks mortified, and Lily takes Albus' laughter as an agreement of the name. It takes several minutes for Albus to stop laughing. James just gives up trying to change Lily's mind and Albus doesn't even try. Lily sits with the puppy snoring in her lap. She pets from the head to the tail as she murmurs, "You are Fluffypup. Don't let James be mean to you about it."

Fluffypup sleeps away in Lily's lap, and Lily's never been happier.


	9. Support

**Support**

 _Written by **scrumptiousinternetllama**_

 _For Sam (HP Slash Luv)_

 _I got quite a few Taylor Swift lyrics in here XD I hope you enjoy it!_

* * *

Teddy watched as Lily broke down into tears. She was seven years old and although he himself had been throwing tantrums none too long ago, sixteen year old Teddy squeezed his eyes shut at the noise. "Lily, I'm trying to do my holiday homework. Please, be qui—" he began, but was cut off by Lily's shrill:

"No!"

Teddy sighed in resignation and surveyed the young girl cautiously. She wasn't hurt. "You know," he said, "when I saw you for the first time, you were crying."

"And?" asked a sulking Lily.

"Some things just never change," he said with a chuckle, jumping out of his seat as Lily leapt at him in anger.

It was only two days later that Teddy was forgiven. He knocked on Lily's bedroom door, and when she opened it to his grinning face, she almost closed it right away. Fortunately, Teddy spoke quickly.

"Please, just listen?" he asked.

Lily scowled at him before crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow—the spitting image of her mum, which almost made him laugh—prompting him to speak.

"Come downstairs."

Lily frowned. "Why?"

Teddy smirked, and he could tell that she was annoyed, but curious about how smug he looked.

Sure enough, not even two minutes after he had reached the kitchen, Lily entered hesitantly. Then she noticed the box on the floor. "What's that?" she asked.

A bark came from the box, and her hand flew to her mouth. "Teddy!" she exclaimed, quite speechless, for once.

"Open it," he urged, ushering her forwards.

She complied, and he was forgiven.

The husky he had bought her all those years ago rested its head in fifteen year old Lily's lap as she sobbed.

Teddy, now twenty-four years of age, frowned and crouched before the teenager. Elizabeth, the husky whined at him. "There, there, Lizzy. I'll find out what's up."

He didn't know why Lily had chosen such a grandiose name for her pet, but Lizzy was hers, after all.

"Lily?"

"Go away," said Lily's muffled voice.

"What happened?" he asked, softening his tone, and glanced Lizzy as if she could help.

"Do you remember Alex McLaggen?" she asked, sitting up. Teddy tried not to look shocked at her red-rimmed eyes.

"You were only going on about him for the past few months," he said, sarcastically.

Lily buried her face in her hands. "I'm so stupid," she groaned.

Teddy frowned. "Why?"

"Because now he's gone and gotten himself a girlfriend!" she said with a sniffle.

So that was what this was about.

Teddy smiled sadly at Lily. "In your life," he began, "you'll do things greater than dating the boy on the Quidditch team," he said.

Lily looked up and blinked at him twice; then she straightened her shoulders. The expression on her face was strong and determined—then Lizzy licked her cheek, and they all dissolved into giggles.

Lily's eighteenth birthday celebration was away from home. The Potters had retired to bed, expecting a late return for their youngest child, and Teddy had been sleeping too, when Lizzy had jumped onto his chest, whining and pawing at him.

"What's wrong, Lizzy?" he asked, groggily.

Lizzy jumped off of his chest and padded over to his door, growling in a way that made Teddy think if he wasn't up in the next few seconds, she wasn't going to be happy.

He followed the sound of the dog's footsteps down the stairs and to the front door, where she scratched at it and whined again. Teddy barked out a laugh. "Is that what you wanted? Lizzy, I can't take you out for a walk at this time!"

But Lizzy persisted, scratching at the door until he finally gave in, worried that the paint would come off. He grabbed her leash and clipped it onto her collar before opening the door, and promptly dropped to his knees.

There, on the doorstep, lay Lily. She was face down, but her red hair, illuminated by the light of the moon gave it away. Lizzy pounced on her owner, nuzzling Lily to wake her up—but she didn't.

Panicked, Teddy scooped up her unconscious form and laid her on the sofa. Then, he grabbed a tea towel and whispered a quick _Aguamenti_ before dabbing at her face with the wet material, clearing up what he guessed was vomit on her chin.

He remembered Madame Pomfrey teaching him how to cast diagnostics during his work experience placement—the matron had invited him to work alongside her for the week as he'd had no idea where he wanted to go—and quickly cast the spell, watching as the coloured dots circled her head. He squinted for a moment, and identified the cause as over-consumption of alcohol.

Looking down, he winced at the state of her dress. The top half was also covered in what he presumed was also vomit, and it seemed to have made its way into her hair. Wrinkling his nose, he lifted her slightly and pulled her hair out from under her.

"Scourgify," he whispered, and watched as her hair filled with bubbles as it cleaned.

The dress was another matter entirely. If he cleaned it, then she would be sleeping in a soggy dress, and after being outdoors in the cold for so long, she would surely become ill. On the other hand, if he left it as it was, she was going to be sleeping in her own vomit. Neither option was ideal.

Thankfully, before he had to make a decision, Lily groaned and lifted her hands to her head. Teddy rushed to the kitchen to grab a glass of water, Sober-up and headache relief potion.

He returned to find her sitting up, looking in pain. "I think you might want these," he said, handing over the vials of potions, before giving her the water after she'd done drinking them.

He remained stood up and neither of them spoke until Teddy heard a sniffle. "Lily?"

"What am I meant to tell Mum and Dad?" she asked, looking down at her hands.

Teddy crouched before her. "It's the first time you've done anything like this. You got carried awa—"

But Lily cut him off. "It's not the first time I've done this." Teddy only blinked in shock. "The first time, Mum found me—and the second time Dad did. They were so worried about letting me go out this time, but I kept nagging at them. I promised them—" Here, Lily's voice became more strangled. "I promised them I wouldn't break their trust, but there were so many people and we were all celebrating, and people kept offering and offering and—"

Teddy watched helplessly as Lily began sobbing openly. "I'm such an idiot. I keep breaki—"

At the very sound of her self-deprecating speech, Teddy hushed her gently. "Remember what Molly always says? 'I hope you remember, today is never too late to be brand new.'"

Lily nodded, and wiped her eyes, wrinkling her nose at her dress as she did so. Lizzy whined, and Lily's attention immediately went to her dog. "Oh, Lizzy, I'm so sorry I scared you!" she exclaimed, dropping to her knees and giving her dog a hug, carefully avoiding getting any vomit on her coat.

"She woke me up to come and get you," said Teddy with a sad smile.

Lily looked up at him. "I'm never drinking alcohol again," she stated, and stood up. Pointing her wand at herself, she muttered a _Scourgify_ and enveloped Teddy in a hug that lasted a second longer than he expected it to. Her lips ghosted his cheek as she whispered a thank you and made her way up the stairs, Lizzy following her lead.

It was Teddy's favourite time of year: Christmas. Everyone always went to the Weasley's home for Christmas and this one was no exception. The dining table had to be moved outside and expanded as Molly Weasley's children, children's friends, and grandchildren all attended.

As soon as he entered the Burrow through the fireplace, Molly Weasley set to making him comfortable, cooing over how much he had grown and "How old are you now?"

"Thirty-two," he answered with a chuckle.

"And not married yet?" asked Molly with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. Teddy resisted the urge to roll his eyes; the matriarch always asked him the same question.

"Not yet," he said.

"What not yet?" came a voice from beside him.

Teddy managed to control his jump to a slight flinch, and saw it was Lily.

"I was just asking him how on earth he isn't married yet," said Molly with a chuckle.

Lily laughed, but it sounded slightly forced. "I'm sure the ladies are drooling over him. Do either of you know where Lizzy is?"

"She should be with the kids, my dear," said Molly with a smile, and shooed them both from her kitchen.

Lizzy had been staying with the Weasley's over the holidays as Lily had been away for the past couple of weeks on a training trip to research Ancient Greek wizardry. She wanted to become a history teacher, and, for only being twenty-three and not fully qualified yet, Headmaster McGonagall appeared to be more than confident in Lily's abilities.

"She always asks me the same question every time I visit," said Teddy with a chuckle.

Lily smiled, but there was something he couldn't quite pinpoint in her eyes. "I wonder too. There are plenty of women out there who would love to have you," she said.

Teddy frowned. "Well, none of them… are right, I guess," he said.

For some reason, a smile appeared on Lily's face, and didn't leave for the rest of the night.

It was as Teddy walked Lily to the fireplace that she said: "Let's hope the next time I see you, you're not married."

Teddy laughed. "If I got married, you'd be invited, of course."

Lily rolled her eyes. "We're close now, but these things will, or can, change easily."

"What's gotten into you?" asked Teddy.

"Nothing at all," answered Lily, stepping into the fireplace, and left a confused Teddy in the kitchen of the Burrow.

Spring came around and thirty-four year old Teddy was out on a walk with Lily and Lizzy. It was also the anniversary of the 'Battle of Hogwarts', so they visited the cemetery, finding people from all walks of life already there, with tears and flowers in abundance.

Teddy's face was solemn. "Everyone here was someone else before the war," he said. "Their lives would have been so much different without it."

Lily shook her head, looking over at her family beside her uncle's grave. "When we were all little, I remember you and I didn't understand why there were wars, and why people fought and risked their lives. Then we came here, and we saw just how much everyone loved each other and how much they mourned the passing of their loved ones."

Teddy cleared his throat, feeling the beginnings of a lump forming there. "Well, now you and I understand why they lost their minds and fought in the war."

He didn't need to state the reason; Lizzy's leash and Lily's hand intertwined with his as they made their way over to the Weasleys and Potters.

 _For love._


	10. A New Addition

**A New Addition**

 _Written by **The Crownless Queen**_

* * *

The shelter was large and quiet - though not the kind of quiet that would fill one with unease, more like the peaceful kind of quiet. It was lit with several white glowing bulbs that seemed to make the walls glow, and somehow Harry knew that this was the place, that this was the one. From Hermione's suddenly more attentive behavior, she felt it too.

That wasn't to say that the other shelters they had visited had been bad, per se, but they definitely hadn't had the spark that Harry hadn't even known he was looking for.

It had been kind of a spur of the moment that lead to Harry deciding that he and Hermione needed a dog. They had just been walking on the street one late afternoon when they had spotted a boy running after his dog, his parents watching with fond smiles, and it had just hit him: he wanted this.

Getting Hermione to agree had been relatively easy. For all that his girlfriend appeared to be a cat person, she was actually more of a 'all animals go' kind of girl, and when Harry had shared his newly discovered dream with her she had smiled and agreed, wishful smile on her lips.

Which was how they had ended up here, in this shelter, looking at the dogs.

"What about this one?" Harry asked, looking pensively at a big, black dog of mixed race. It looked imposing, but friendly enough, its tongue lolling out of its mouth in a mimic of a playful smirk.

Hermione moved closer, sending one last longing look at one of the pug pups she had been looking at as she did so _(well, Harry thought as he realized somewhat mournfully he'd have to take a closer look at those too if Hermione liked them so much, at least they wouldn't look out of place with Crookshank)_.

"I don't know," she said, tilting her head to the side in the way she did when she wasn't quite sure how to voice her thoughts. "He does seem nice…"

"But?"

Hemrione bit her lip. "Well, don't take this wrong, Harry, because you know how much I love your family-"

"-oh, that does sound serious," Harry quiped. "The only times you tell me you love them is when you're about to tell me that you don't actually _love them_."

Hermione shot him a dark look, and Harry raised his hands in mock-surrender, smiling.

"Oh shut up, you prat," she replied, swatting him on the arm. The fond smile on her face contradicted her actions though, and Harry's smile only widened. "You know I love your parents."

"They love you too," Harry said, because it was true. James and Lily Potter had been enamoured with Hermione Granger ever since Harry had brought her back home with him, on that day where they became friends after he and Ron had chased away the girls trying to bully her. Sometimes, it even felt like his parents loved his girlfriend more than him - a fact that, when mentioned, never failed to make his mother roll her eyes and Hermione blush.

Hermione smiled, pleased. "But, well… This dog kind of reminds me of Sirius?" She winced.

Harry blinked, and took a second look at the dog that was staring unblinkingly at him with big, soulful eyes. "You know, I think I can kind of see it, now that you've mentioned it…"

Hermione looked relieved as she sighed. "Well, I just don't think that this would be a good idea. I mean, if he's anything like Sirius…"

She shivered, and Harry echoed the feeling. His mind spent a moment considering the possibilities, drawing up scenarios where his godfather and the dog met, and well… Imagining what his godfather and a dog as playful and mischievous-looking as this one could get up behind their back to was actually rather terrifying.

 _(it would make a lovely prank though, if Sirius were to get this dog for himself - the chaos would definitely be entertaining if nothing else)_

"We could keep them apart?" Harry suggested half-heartedly.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed as if she had sensed his earlier thoughts, and Harry caved in, sending her an apologetic look that didn't seem to. They moved on, eventually coming right back to the pug pups Hermione had been so fascinated with earlier. Somehow, Harry wasn't surprised.

"Aren't they adorable?" Hermione cooed, kneeling as she petted one of the puppies.

Harry had to admit that she was right. There were five pups in total, their coats an off-white color speckled with greys and soft maroons. Four of them were waging their tails as they pressed closer to Hermione, eyes adorably set on his girlfriend, but Harry only had eyes for the last pup.

It looked different from the others somehow, and not only because it was the only one of the puppies not being drawn in by Hermione and the promises of treats. Instead it looked at Harry too, head cocked to the side. It wasn't until the puppy moved that it revealed its unseeing left eye, and Harry gasped softly.

The gasp drew Hermione's attention, who took one look at Harry and the pup, and smiled fondly. "I should have guessed," she said, rolling her eyes. "You and your people saving thing…"

Harry rolled his eyes right back at her, resisting the urge to stick out his tongue. He didn't argue the saving people thing - somehow he always lost that argument - and instead shot her a pleading look.

Hermione rolled her eyes again. "Yes," she said. "Of course I agree with you. He'll fit right in with us."

Harry very carefully resisted the urge to make his victory dance (Hermione had pretended not to know him last time he had, and that hadn't been nearly as funny as everyone else had thought it was), though he did send a thumbs-up to the dog who barked happily at them and wagged his tail enthusiastically.

"Come on," Hermione said playfully, grabbing him by the elbow, "let's go fill the paperwork so that we can all go home sometime this century."

"Ugh, paperwork," Harry whimpered. "Do we have to?"

Hermione laughed, but dragged him onward, unrepentant as behind them the puppy (theirs, or at least he would be soon enough) kept barking.

Well, at least he wasn't about to do paperwork for nothing.


	11. Lily's Puppy

**Second Chances**

 _Written by **WolfWinks**_

* * *

The day was cold, but Lily was outside anyway. It was the day after Christmas, and Lily wanted to enjoy the fresh air. Her brothers might think she's insane, but the snow made her smile. She loved it when the wind and frost brushed her hair away from her face. It made her feel alive.

She wasn't far from her house, and she didn't plan on going any further either. Her dad always worried about them leaving the perimeter, and she was only seven after all. No other seven year old was allowed to go for a walk without an adult, but that didn't change the fact that Lily wanted to wander.

It may be too cold for the rest of her family, particularly her brothers and mum (she took after her dad in a lot of ways), but not her.

Lily eyed the gate, wondering if she would manage to sneak out of it for just a few moments, but she shook her head. She knew that wouldn't be possible; her dad definitely charmed the gate to alert him to any guests, but Lily wouldn't be surprised if he'd charmed it the other way as well.

With a small sigh and her shoulders slumped slightly, Lily turned and walked back to the house. It was stifling hot in there and she felt so closed in, but her mum made her promise to come back inside after only half an hour. Her time was up.

A small sound just outside the gate stopped Lily's walk. She turned slowly and peered outside with a suspicious gaze. The sound reminded Lily of when Albus was hurt in a game of Quidditch a few days ago.

She looked around, but unable to see anything, turned to head back inside again.

There! Lily focused her eyes on a small bush covered in white snow a few metres away from the gate. The sound was coming from that bush; and whoever was making the sound was in pain.

Lily glanced at the house, but like her father would have done, she threw all risk to the wind and dashed out through the gate. If someone was hurt, she wanted to help.

"Lily Luna Potter!" Lily heard her mother yell, but Lily ignored her and knelt down next to the bush.

Her knees were instantly soaked, but she ignored that as well. Pushing away a few of the branches she found a curled up form shivering in the snow with a large red mark staining the fur on its front leg. A young dog. A small one, but probably only because it was a puppy.

Lily reached a hand forward, only to flinch back when the puppy growled at her.

"Shh," Lily said, lying on the ground to show she meant no harm. "It's okay."

Lily reached forward again and this time the puppy let her, though it watched her every movement very carefully. Lily moved her hand in front of the puppy's nose, letting it have a good sniff, before moving her hand to its back, being very careful to avoid touching the obvious wound.

"Lily Lun—"

"Shh!" Lily hissed at her mother, staring at the dog which had started growling again.

"Oh," her mother said when she caught sight of the dog. "Maybe you should come away from it. It looks dangerous."

"It's not dangerous," Lily dismissed without looking up. "It's just scared and hurt."

Lily shifted until she was sitting up, not moving her hand away from the puppy. Its ears pulled back but it didn't growl. Lily moved her hands around the dog, talking to it the whole time. "I'm just going to pick you up, it's okay."

"Lily," her mother warned, but Lily continued to ignore her.

"Shh, there you go." Lily very gentle picked the puppy up, noting his gender as she did. When he didn't react other than to stiffen, Lily moved him close to her body, sharing her body heat with the small creature. "That's better, isn't it?"

Lily turned and looked up to her mother. "Can we look after him?"

Her mum hesitated. She moved forward to have a look at the puppy, but he growled at her and she moved away while Lily whispered reassurances to him.

"I don't know. It seems pretty wild. It could hurt you or your brothers."

"It won't," Lily snapped. "I already told you that it's just scared. Please, we have to."

Her mum hesitated again, but finally nodded her head. "Fine, but we have to be careful, okay? I don't want anyone getting hurt."

Lily nodded, already knowing that the small puppy wouldn't hurt her.

"What's this?"

Lily turned to look at her dad when he came home, smiling at his gobsmacked look. "This is Justin." Lily thought about that name and shook her head. "No, Justin's not right."

Albus snorted from the couch, away from the puppy. "It's a stupid name."

Lily shot a glare at her brother, but she couldn't help agreeing. Justin definitely wasn't right. She looked down at the puppy. Now that all the snow was cleared away, Lily could tell that the puppy's fur was almost as white as the snow, only a little darker thanks to the dirt covering it. She had no idea what breed it was, but she definitely wanted to figure it out.

"Why is there a dog in our house?" her dad said. He'd arrived home late and exhausted like he'd been for the last couple of days (Christmas excluded of course) and Lily was starting to worry. When she asked about it, her mum just said it was something with work.

"It's a puppy," Lily insisted. She was almost sure that the dog was only a few months old at most.

"Okay," her dad moved forward, but the puppy tensed and growled at him so he stopped walking.

"Sorry," Lily said. "He's a little nervous."

"Nervous?" James said from the kitchen. He'd refused to come into the room with the puppy since he'd been barked at. "That dog is more suspicious of strangers than Dad is."

Her dad shot James a glare and Lily giggled. James did have a point, though. The puppy would only let Lily near him; not even her mum, who only wanted to heal its leg.

"Lily?"

Lily explained what happened this morning, and after a quick scolding for leaving the yard without permission, her dad knelt down, lying on his stomach like Lily had earlier.

"It's a cute thing," her dad said, laying his head to the side and starting a staring contest with the animal. The puppy won, of course, but when her dad chuckled and reached out for it, the puppy allowed it.

"How did you—"

"Padfoot gave me some tips when I told him dogs didn't like me," her dad said before her mum could finish.

Lily looked at her dad like he was crazy, as did Albus, though James looked vaguely sad. Her mum, who also looked sad, nodded. _I thought Padfoot was just a story,_ Lily thought, but she brushed it away when her dad waved his wand over the dog, healing the wound in seconds.

"Thanks Dad," Lily said, throwing her arms around his neck.

"So, can we keep him?" Lily asked, throwing a hopeful grin at her parents.

"I don't know," her mum said, eyeing the dog carefully.

"Come on, Gin, it'll be fine."

Albus, Lily could see out of the corner of her eye, was nodding his head, and even James was smiling at the thought. Only their mum was unsure, but under the hopeful looks of her family, she gave in.

"Fine, but you look after him, Lily."

"Of course," Lily said, jumping up to hug her mum. "Now all I need is a name."

Almost a week since Lily had found the puppy, she still didn't have a name for him. Albus had taken to calling it Puppy, as had her dad, but Lily was determined to find the right name for him. Nothing seemed right, though.

The puppy was a lot more active than that first day. After a large meal which the puppy scoffed down, a nice long drink, and a warm bed to sleep in for the night, the puppy seemed to wake up. It bounced around Lily's legs wherever she went, and would even take to following her dad in the evenings after she'd fallen asleep. When the puppy was ready to sleep, he would retreat to Lily's room and curl up on the ground by the foot of her bed.

After two nights of this, his bed was moved from the living room to Lily's so he had a nice place to sleep through the night. A soft blanket was placed in the living room, though the puppy was more likely to curl up on the couch than the blanket.

Everyone was falling in love with the puppy, though James and her mum were still wary around it and the puppy wasn't much better. It hadn't growled at them, but always seemed nervous when they were around. Lily suspected that the puppy didn't like loud noises, and between James' yelling around the house, and Mum yelling at James, it was no surprise he didn't really like them.

She didn't blame the puppy, if she was honest.

Lily looked after the puppy like it was her child, and the puppy did the same back. One afternoon, while Lily was on the floor, she spilt juice on her hand. The puppy licked it off, and then looked at Lily like he was scolding her.

The only place the puppy wouldn't follow Lily was outside, and again, Lily didn't blame him. When they'd found him, he'd been freezing, so it was no wonder that the puppy preferred to be warm. It would sit at the back door, watching Lily as she played outside and then sit with Lily when she came inside, almost like he was trying to warm her up like Lily had done for him.

It was raining. Even Lily didn't like going out in the rain. James was being a prat about it, and he ended up setting off a small firework that sounded like thunder in her room this morning to inform her of just what the weather was like. He'd scared her poor puppy onto her bed, and it was only by lunchtime that he'd calmed down again.

"Lily?"

"What, James?"

Lily was currently curling into the couch trying to read with Puppy curled up against one side. She kept glancing outside only to see more rain. When James entered the room, her puppy had jumped off the couch and retreated to his blankets. He'd been doing that all morning.

James glanced at the puppy with guilt before turning to Lily with the same guilt in his eyes. "I'm sorry about this morning, okay?"

Lily stared at James for a few minutes. It wouldn't be the first time James had apologised for something, only to laugh at her afterwards. This time, though, there seemed to be no prank or amusement in his eyes. He kept glancing to the puppy in the corner, and Lily realised he actually felt guilty about starting the puppy the whole family was sure had been hurt by its previous owner.

She smiled at James. "Apology accepted," Lily said, patting the seat next to her. "Your timing is actually perfect. Could you help me understand some of these words?" Lily was a brilliant reader, the whole family was actually, but she was still only young and she still struggled with a few words and their meanings.

"Sure," James dropped next to Lily and looked at the book.

Lily was about to point out the words when an evil idea occurred to her. James would hate it, but it would be payback in the best possible way.

"Thanks James," Lily said, pressed a long wet kiss onto his cheek.

James pulled away with a yell only to see Lily laughing at him. "Oh, you want to play it that way?" James launched at Lily, tickling her mercilessly.

Lily screeched at the attack, batting James hands away, but she stopped when James let out a cry of fear.

"James? Oh my—No! Bad puppy! Mum!"

James was pulled off the couch by his leg, the puppy's teeth clenched onto the fabric, growling and snarling. James was fighting like his life depended on it, and the puppy looked ready to hurt him. James shook his captured leg, but the puppy only snarled louder, so he pulled his free leg back to kick the puppy away.

"No! Don't hurt him!" Lily wasn't sure if she was yelling at the puppy or James. She screamed when the puppy still didn't let go and looked like he was going to attack James in a more dangerous way.

"Mum!"

Her mum, who must have been outside because she would have appeared straight away if she'd been in the house, didn't even think for a moment when she did arrive, shooting a stunner at the puppy. He fell limply to his side, releasing James who scrambled away.

"Let me see," her mum demanded. She rolled up James' pant leg and breathed a sigh of relief when it was shown the puppy hadn't broken the skin.

When Lily saw that James was okay, she started towards the puppy, only to be stopped by her mum.

"He could be hurt," Lily said, trying to push past her mum.

"I don't care! That dog is dangerous and as soon as your father comes home, we will be discussing what to do with it, because it will _not_ be staying here anymore."

"No!"

"Lily! It attacked your brother."

Lily flinched at the reminder, but she stood her ground. "He thought James was hurting me," Lily said desperately.

" _No!_ I knew from the beginning this dog was bad news. Next time it could attack you or Albus, and it could be deadly! I will not have a dangerous animal living in our house and _that's final!_ "

Lily stared at her mum through the tears in her eyes. She looked at her puppy, so peaceful at the moment. He'd grown since she found him; gained some weight and height, but he was still a puppy. She could see, to an extent, where her mum was coming from. He was probably big enough to injure a full grown adult now, but he was still a puppy. He was her puppy.

"I'll never forgive you," Lily hissed, turning back to her mum.

Her mum flinched back at the venom in Lily's voice, but Lily refused to feel guilty. "Go to your room!" her mum yelled, throwing her hand out to point in the direction of her room.

Lily didn't need to be told twice.

Lily sulked in her room for the rest of the day, only coming out when she heard her dad come home. She listened to their conversation, and she was happy to hear her dad fight for the puppy, but in the end, he agreed with her mum. Lily clenched her hands and stormed back into her room.

When her dad came up to give her some dinner, she ignored him.

"I know you're upset, but this is for the best. You know he was treated badly by people that loved him, maybe he just couldn't recover."

Lily couldn't help but answer to that. "Just because someone is treated badly, doesn't mean they're bad. Why is it different for dogs?"

Lily's dad closed his eyes and when he opened them again, there was something a little dark in them, almost like on the rare occasion when he talked about the previous war.

"It doesn't, but the puppy attacked James. That tells us that he might be too traumatised by his first owners to live with us."

Lily's eyes watered again and she turned her back on her dad. "I thought you of all people would understand," she muttered.

"Oh, Lils—"

"No! Get out!" Lily snapped, shrugging his hand off her shoulder.

Her dad sighed before leaving her room without another word; the soft sound on the door shutting telling Lily he was gone. She waited until she heard his footsteps retreat down stairs before sitting up. She had work to do.

Lily had a bag packed and her shoes ready to go. She knew she had to do this tonight, but waiting until everyone was asleep was essential. She couldn't be caught before she left the house, not if she wanted this to work.

She shifted on her bed when her eyes drooped again; pinching herself when moving did nothing. When that still did nothing, Lily stood and walked around for a minute and that seemed to wake her up.

Her brothers had already gone to bed, but her mum and dad were still awake and talking. She couldn't hear any definite words, but the low murmur of their voices told her they were still awake. Lily hoped they went to sleep soon, otherwise everything would be ruined.

Just as she was thinking this, she heard her parent's footsteps ascending the stairs. Knowing they would probably look in on her, she scrambled into bed and closed her eyes to pretend to sleep. The door creaked open a second later.

"—made a mistake." her mum whispered as she entered.

Lily clenched her eyes and bit her lip to prevent her yelling at her mum. It wasn't a mistake to take Puppy in.

"We'll deal with it."

They closed the door a second later and Lily breathed a sigh of relief. She decided to lay in bed for a few more minutes to make sure her parents were asleep before starting her plan. _I'll only close my eyes for a second._

Lily woke to a knock on the door.

"Lily? Do you want to come out and eat something?"

Lily rubbed her eyes and looked around her room. When she spotted the small bag and her shoes by the door, she remembered everything from last night, and she knew she blew it. She started to cry.

"Oh, Lils." Her dad wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

Lily let him, needing to feel her dad's special brand of comfort. She cried into his shoulder before pulling away and rubbing her eyes.

"Lily, your mum and I wanted to talk to you this morning."

"Later," Lily said, pleading with her eyes. "I want to go outside for a bit."

Her dad hesitated, but in the end nodded. "Just be careful," he said like he always did when she went outside.

Lily nodded and waited until her dad was gone to get dressed. She threw on her shoes and walked to the kitchen, but her mum stopped her.

"Not through that way. We've put the puppy in there."

Lily's eyes darkened but she was too depressed to argue, slipping out the front door and going around the house to the back. She could see her puppy sleeping on the blankets that were once in the living room and she could see a slight blue shimmer around the dog. He was well contained, and Lily knew she wouldn't have been able to free the puppy last night even if she had stayed awake.

Turning away, she was about to head towards a tree when she spotted two figures outside the gate. One was slumped over, an arm wrapped around his middle. He was wearing what looked like rags and underneath the rags, Lily could see some pretty vicious wounds.

The other man had Lily backing away from the pair. He held himself tall with wild hair and eyes on the brink of insanity. One of his hands were clenched on the other man's shoulder, and the other held a wand pointed right between her eyes.

As she stared, the wards around their house seemed to part, letting the man in. The wards were usually invisible unless something disturbed them. Then, they were a pale green colour. Her Uncle Ron always lamented the fact that strongest wards were green, but Lily found the colour surprisingly suitable.

"Lily Potter," the man cackled, moving forward and dropping the injured man in the same movement. "Come here."

Lily did no such thing. "Mum! Dad!" She turned to run back to the house, but an unseen force caught her and dragged her back. She screamed and thrashed in the hold, but nothing would break it.

She saw the back door open and her parents come out with their faces a mask of horror and fear. They raised their wands, but before they had the chance to cast anything, a white blur bolted past with a vicious snarl, latching onto the wild man's arm.

The man howled in pain, dropping the spell holding Lily and directing his wand at the puppy, but he couldn't seem to aim properly to avoid his arm and hit the puppy. He shook his arm to try and dislodge the puppy, but he held firm, snarling with every shake.

Lily's mum grabbed Lily around the middle and dragged her backwards away from the fight, but she didn't force Lily inside, too worried about leaving her dad alone, probably.

The attacker was starting to get desperate, that much was certain. His face was contorted in pain and he'd even dropped his wand to try and physically pull the puppy off, but the puppy still didn't budge. It wasn't until Lily's dad sent a stunner spell at the man, did the puppy let go.

"He really was protecting her," James said from inside with Albus standing just behind him.

Lily couldn't move. Her heart was beating faster than it ever had before and she was shaking. Her mum approached her and pulled her close while her dad moved towards the attacker, keeping his wand up just in case.

The puppy was still beside the man, watching him like he expected the man to leap up and attack again, but he didn't. The puppy let her dad past, who went and checked on the unconscious man before returning with a pained expression. Lily didn't want to think about what that meant.

He approached the man again, giving the puppy a quick glance, but the puppy backed away when her dad needed the room. Only when the man was tied with rope did the puppy leave his guard and approach Lily and her mum.

Other than tensing slightly, tightening her arms around Lily, she let the puppy approach. She watched, amazed, as the dog sat in front of Lily and nudged her hand. Lily happily pet the puppy like it was asking.

"I told you he was just protecting me."

Her dad turned around at that point. "Go inside and call Ron over."

Her mum nodded, picking Lily up and holding her close. "Come on," she said, moving forward. She started when the puppy hopped up as well and walked forward right towards James who flinched away.

The puppy stood in front of James before lowering himself onto his stomach and rolling over.

"I think he's trying to apologise, James."

James shot Lily a wary glance before turning that look towards the puppy. He carefully lowered himself to the dog's level and reaching a hand out. Puppy, who use to move away from James whenever he tried pet him, moved forward like he was asking James to pet him. James' face lit up.

"I think he understands now," Lily said, wriggling out of her mum's arms and scooping the puppy up. Surprisingly, her mum didn't try and stop her, and when Lily turned around to ask her why, her mum had a hand covering her mouth in surprise.

"L-let's go inside," her mum stuttered, glancing behind her at the man still unconscious on the ground.

Lily didn't argue, wanting to be away from the man, and for once, in the warmth of her house. She carried the puppy inside, but once she stepped into the kitchen, she stopped because of the barrier that would prevent the puppy from leaving.

Without saying a word, Lily saw her mum wave the barrier away, and Lily shot her mum a bright smile.

They all retreated to the living room where her mum contacted Uncle Ron and asked him to come over. Then, they could do nothing but wait.

They'd been waiting for hours. Lily was reading another book, though her gaze continued to switch between her mum, the puppy and the fireplace. Her dad had left with Uncle Ron to arrest the man properly and make sure he was processed. The other man, the one that had been hurt, had unfortunately died during the attack on Lily.

Lily tried to forget about the fact that she saw that man's last moments.

After her mum had made sure she wasn't hurt—which she wasn't—she'd sat on the couch and closed her eyes. Occasionally a tear slipped past, but her mum was mostly still otherwise.

There was a small struggle between James and Albus, but it was really only to pass the time. James was ecstatic and wanted to be running up the walls, but he recognised the seriousness of the situation and was entertaining himself with annoying Albus.

Albus kept glancing at Lily like she was going to disappear if he wasn't careful. Lily and Albus were very close, they all were really, but Lily and Albus created a collective front against their prank-pulling older brother, so he's probably pretty freaked out about all that'd happened. James would be too if the puppy hadn't accepted him right after.

The fireplace flared to life and all of the occupants in the room, including the puppy, jump up to stare. Their dad walked through, running a hand through his hair when he spotted them all.

"I suppose you all want some questions answered," he stated rather than asked. Apparently, that was permission for the flood gates to be opened, at least for the children.

"Who was that man?"

"Why did he come here?"

"What happened with the puppy?"

"Is the house even safe anymore?"

"How did he get through the wards?"

"Are we keeping the puppy now?"

"Was he trying to kill Lily or just use her?"

"Alright! That is enough. Your father is obviously exhausted and scared. He will try and answer all your questions, but mine comes first."

Lily wanted to argue with her mum—she wasn't going to ask about the puppy—but then she saw her mum's face and decided not to say anything. Her mum was also looking extremely tired and scared.

"Are we safe?"

Lily's dad grabbed her mum's hand and smiled at her. "Yes. He wasn't working with anyone and he can't escape where he's locked up at the moment."

Her mum breathed a sigh of relief. She paused for a moment with her eyes closed and seemed to be trying to compose herself, but when she opened her eyes, they were shining in anger.

"Explain what happened today."

Her dad sighed and ran a hand through his hair, leading their mum to the couch and sitting down next to her.

"We've been searching for a man who had been killing people seemingly at random. He's been killing for a few weeks and we hadn't been able to find any leads on him. We've only just realised that all the people that were killed had some experience with wards. House wards to be specific. He wanted to break through our house wards and seek revenge against me for my achievements when I was younger."

Lily gasped at that. She'd always thought her dad was too protective of them, even complaining on occasion, but it seemed it wasn't completely irrational. Is it paranoia when everyone _is_ trying to kill you?

"The man that died was a highly skilled house warder, and he'd been, well, that doesn't matter. Anyway, they managed to break through our wards and the rest you saw."

"Have the wards been fixed?" James asked, showing his intelligence for once.

"Not yet. I put basic ones that should be fine for the night, and I've asked a few of the new recruits to be on guard duty. When Bill arrives home tomorrow, I'll ask him to fix them properly. We are safe, I promise," their dad said, looking at them all in the eye.

There was silence in the room, until a small whine reminded them all of the puppy present. A puppy that, just yesterday, was being sent away.

Lily started petting the puppy again before turning to her parents. "What about him?" she asked in a small voice.

Her mum and dad shared a glance before turning back to Lily.

"We discussed this a bit last night, and I think we were both a little hasty about kicking the puppy out. He didn't hurt James, though he was very vicious. We were thinking we would try and train that out of him. If it didn't work before February, the puppy would go, but after today, well."

When her dad didn't continue, her mum started speaking with surprising confidence.

"After today, that dog isn't going anywhere."

Lily squealed and jumped on her parents, hugging around their neck in a tight embrace. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Her parents chuckled and hugged her back before looking at James.

"As long as you're okay with this," their dad said.

James nodded without a moment's hesitation. "He liked me now," he said with a smile.

"So, is it going to be called 'Puppy' for the rest of its life."

"Nope," Lily said, smiling down at the puppy. "His name is Leo."

No one argued. It was the perfect name.

(w.c 4,979)

WolfWinks-xx-


	12. Second Chance At Love Buffy

**Second Chance At Love**

 _Written by **Claude Amelia Song**_

 _For Sam, my wonderful beta. All my love to you. I really, really hope you will like it. It's my first ever attempt at them and I hope I got them right._

 _Betaed by Sophie. Thank you!_

* * *

Buffy looked at the picture in her hands and sighed. It had been six months already. She hadn't believed what Willow had said on the phone earlier.

It had been six months since Spike died, and she was still in denial. He had been her rock; her shoulder to cry on. She loved him—she loved him and he never knew. Now it was too late. The worst part of it was, that when she had said those three words, he hadn't believed her.

There was nothing she could do about it now.

She couldn't stay in Sunnydale,not anymore. Everything reminded her of Spike. Everything. Her friends had been sad to see her leave, but they understood why she had to. The town, the world was in safe hands. Some of the slayers had remained behind to help out, and they had just hadn't left. They were waiting for her to return. They understood.

Buffy looked at the picture again. It was the only picture she had of him. It was old and dusty, but she loved it. He had shown it to her just few days before his death, when they had shared the day together.

She hadn't appreciated those moments before, the little things that made him special. She only did now because he was gone. Had he lived, perhaps she would have never admitted her love for him. And it broke her heart more than it already was. How she missed him...

A low bark woke her up from her sad thoughts.

"Spike! Down boy! Down! I will take you out soon. Now let's get you something to eat while I go lay down for a bit."

Spike, the dog she named for him, was her only friend there in the new town and he had been her sole companion for the last months. She never spoke to anyone, except Willow on the phone once at every two weeks for five minutes; people here thought that she couldn't speak. And she could not, if she did she was afraid she would cry.

She was a strong person, who wasn't easily broken, but how could you feel anything other than broken when the love of your life had died in front of you and you couldn't save him? Who didn't believe when you told him that you love him? How could one could feel anything other than broken?

She hadn't attempted to move on, she didn't want to. She didn't want to think about him being gone.

The only one she had spoken to was Spike, her dog. She had found him a month after she had moved into her flat, he was homeless and he was cute, he had eyes that reminded her of Spike. He _was_ Spike.

He understood her well, better than anyone, except perhaps, Willow. She too knew how it was to lose your loved one. Though, it was much easier to talk with Spike. Sometimes she would imagine that his namesake was there in his place and he would look at her...

Spike barked again and she chuckled. In her trip down Memory Lane, she had spilled dog food all over the kitchen floor. Buffy reasoned that Spike would take care of it.

So, after petting him on the head and giving him a kiss, she went to her bedroom. Soon, she would need to take him out and then go to work (she now worked part-time in a shop on the night shift). It wasn't much, but it was the only thing she could do properly in her state.

She laid down and closed her eyes.

 _"Buffy! Buffy!"a voice called to her in the darkness._

She tried to see from where it was coming, but there was only darkness. And yet the voice was so familiar.

"Buffy!" it said again, this time closer. And her heart skipped a bit when she realized whose voice it was. It was his voice.

"Spike," she whispered, tears in her eyes.

And suddenly strong arms wrapped around her from behind, hugging her tight. Buffy bit back a sob. Even alone she tried to stay strong, she hadn't allowed herself to grieve him, but now with his arms holding her, everything caught up with her. His loss was more vivid than ever and for a dream it felt so real that her heart ached.

She turned around, trembling, afraid that she would wake up and he would disappear.

"Buffy, I love you," he whispered, looking at her in the eyes.

She gulped. She was so sure it was a dream that she was afraid to speak. But this was her chance. Maybe her last chance. Even if it was all in her mind.

"I love you too,"she managed to say.

He smiled his brilliant smile, reserved only for her.

"I know. Now, I know," he said, tears in his eyes and a sad smile on his face.

"You do?" she whispered, staring at him.

He gently kissed her on the lips, the sweetest kiss they've ever shared,

"I do. And I am so sorry that I didn't believe you"

Buffy shook her head. "You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm the one who gave you more than enough reasons not to trust me." Tears were falling freely from her eyes by now. "I've missed you so much. So much. And it hurts, it hurts..." she sobbed into his shirt.

He kissed her hair before speaking. "I missed you too. I miss you everyday. I love you so much."

They both smiled at each other. It was the first time that they had both admitted freely their feelings for each other.

"How much do love him?" a third voice asked, startling her.

"Who are you?" both Buffy and Spike said in unison, staring at the darkness surrounding them.

"I am you. From the future. I've come to give you a chance. To give me a chance. We need Spike to be happy. You need him, I need him too, but you need him more. It wasn't meant to end this way. This Slayer was meant to be happy," she said and pointed to herself. "Not alone with only a dog as a companion and friend."

"What's wrong with Spike?" asked Buffy defensively. She loved her dog very much. He was her friend.

"Nothing," Spike said, but not the Spike who was hugging her tight, but the one who had appeared out of darkness and was holding hands with the future her. "We love him too"

Buffy nodded and shifted so she would face her older self.

"What chance?"

"I am sending you back to a moment where you could try and fix things up. I already lived it, you know. I was once in your place."

"But...Spike?" and Buffy meant her loyal dog, the one that awaited for her to wake and take him out, her friend.

"He will come too,"was the only reply.

Buffy woke up when she felt someone moving besides her.

It was Spike.

"Hello boy! I had the strangest dream. I dreamed about me, a future me and I was turning back time. As if!" she snorted quietly. How she hoped it was true! She could feel his kiss on her lips, a kiss she hadn't felt in almost a year.  
 _  
Ten years later (from her perspective)  
_  
"Now, you may kiss the bride" the priest said, a smile on his face. He had never seen two people more smitten with each other.

Buffy and Spike married two years after the events that had led to his death, death that now was only on her memory, forever burned on the inside of her head and his. They had both traveled back in time. It had been a shock to everyone to find out that the two of them were together.

"I still cannot believe that we really went back in time," she found herself saying at the reception, looking lovingly at him. She had been so close to losing him again. And she could not. He was her reason for fighting, she couldn't watch him die. Not again.

"You know what I cannot believe? That you named the dog Spike!" he exclaimed, glaring at her.

"I like it," she retorted." He had been my rock. He helped me."

"Still," he whined. "It's my name."

Buffy smiled and secretly thanked once again to whoever had given her a second chance to right things off, to be with him.

"Your name is William, my love," she said and kissed him softly.

From his place under the table, Spike approved.


	13. Goodbye

**Goodbye**

 _Written by **Pokeeeeeeee**_

* * *

"Take Harry and go!"

There was another scream from downstairs, but it was covered up by a yell of "Avada Kedavra!"

Lily was muttering every single curse word she knew under her breath. With Harry in her arms, she could hear Voldemort getting even closer to her. Lily considered her options before trying to open the window, but it had been magicked closed earlier so that baby Harry couldn't fall out accidentally.

"You can't run from me, Potter," Voldemort spat out venemously, and Lily whirled around to find that he was directly behind her. "I already killed your husband, and I will kill you and your itty bitty baby too."

She hissed at him and wrapped her arms around Harry protectively. "You will never take Harry from me. I would give up my life to keep you from harming my son."

Voldemort cackled and raised his wand again. "Avada Kedavra!" was the last thing that Lily heard before everything went black.

When Lily woke up, she was in the Ministry of Magic. _No, that can't be._ She remembered that Peter had betrayed them, that You-Know-Who had killed James, and he had killed Lily and Harry... right?

She obviously couldn't be dead, because she was standing up in the middle of the Ministry of Magic. Harry wasn't anywhere nearby, though, and that worried her.

Lily strode up to the nearest desk, where a witch was boredly flipping through paperwork.

"Excuse me, miss, have you seen my son Harry anywhere nearby?" The lady didn't respond or even acknowledge her existence, so she tried again. "Excuse me? Are you _really_ just going to ignore me?"

With an exasperated sigh, Lily turned around and walked over to another desk. "Sir? Sir?" But the wizard wasn't listening to her either.

"Can anybody in this bloody office even hear me?!" she yelled out, but as expected, nobody replied. There was probably one of those ridiculous soundproofing charms in the room, so with another sigh, Lily left the office, making sure to slam the door as hard as she could.

Lily was in the elevator riding upwards when the doors dinged open yet again. There was a flurry of paper airplanes that entered, but along with them, a shabbily-dressed brown-haired wizard shuffled in.

"Remus!" Lily exclaimed, before remembering that nobody else had noticed her before. But to her delight, Remus looked up and jumped.

"Oh my... Lily? What? I thought you were... You were dead... How-?" He rubbed his eyes and stared at her in disbelief. "No, it can't be. I'm just hallucinating you. Or is this your ghost?"

She laughed slightly before scrunching up her eyebrows in confusion. "Well, I'm obviously not dead. I think I would notice if I was. Although nobody in the Ministry besides you has acknowledged my presence, I don't think I'm a ghost... Here, take my hand so we can test it," Lily said, sticking out her hand.

Remus hesitated before grasping her hand firmly. It made her insides feel fizzy, but it was definitely a solid hand.

"So, not a ghost," Lily said as the doors to the elevator dinged open to the main floor. The ministry was buzzing with people as usual, and everybody was whispering amongst each other loudly.

One couple of witches passed not even a millimeter away from Lily and Remus. "Hey, have you ever heard of personal space-" she started to say before overhearing a part of their conversation.

"Did you hear the news? _Everybody's_ talking about it... They say that James and Lily Potter have died, but their son, Harry, has survived the killing curse from He Who Must Not Be Named!"

After the part about her and James being dead, she almost tuned out in grief and shock. But she managed to hear the essential part of their conversation-her son was still alive.

"Remus? Is this true?" Lily asked him, hoping for one last confirmation.

He nodded. "Yes, it's true. You and James, my friends, are technically dead, which was why I was so flustered to see you. But Harry is alive somehow. Dumbledore took him to live with your sister and her husband. By the way, have you seen James since you, er, came back to life?" Remus asked hopefully.

Lily shook her head. "No, I sadly have not. Why'd he take Harry to _Petunia_ of all people?"

"Nobody really knows." Remus was getting many strange glances from people to whom it appeared that he was talking to himself. "He was saying something about a protection spell. I was visiting the ministry to see if I could maybe take care of Harry instead, but I was very vehemently told off. Fudge apparently had orders from Dumbledore not to let anybody take Harry. I wasn't even supposed to know where they had taken him."

She smiled warmly at him. "Thank you, Remus." Unable to hold herself back, in the middle of the crowded Ministry floor, Lily stepped forward and hugged her friend tightly.

"I think it's pretty obvious that I actually _am_ dead by now, so the reason that I was sent back for ten minutes must have been to say goodbye. So goodbye, Remus," Lily said, not letting go of him, even as she began to fade away.

Remus blinked back tears. "Goodbye, Lily," he said, returning the hug fiercely.

"Watch over him for me and James, will you?" Lily asked, as she became translucent to Remus as well.

"Yes, of course I will. I will until the very end."


End file.
